Mirror Image
by DemonGirl-Setsuna
Summary: While on a shopping trip with Sakura Naruto & Sasuke run into two girls who look like them. After the encounter, they find out they have twin sisters, but they were thought to be dead. What will the boys do when their sisters move in with them?
1. Encounter

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

This is my first Naruto fanfic, so please be kind to me!

Here is Chapter 1!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything that belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Ch 1

Encounter

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"What should we do?", Sakura asks, "We still have an hour before we have to go wait for Kakashi-sensei".

She turns around to find Sasuke and Naruto standing there arms-crossed and glaring in opposite directions.

'_Not again! They've been acting like this ever since Kakashi-sensei stopped their fight on the hospital roof!_', she thinks.

"Why don't we get some snacks to munch on while we wait", Naruto suggests, being the first one to answer her.

"Sounds good to me", Sakura agrees, '_At least someone is in the mood to talk, other than sulk_', she thinks.

"We can get potato-chips, lollypops, and sodas!", Naruto babbles on, walking on ahead.

Sasuke walks slightly ahead of Sakura with his hands in his pockets.

Two girls weave through the crowd, then suddenly one of the girl's crashes into Naruto, while the other girl collides into Sasuke.

"I'm sorry, it's my…fault", the girl who bumped into Naruto trails off, her eyes widening in disbelief.

This girl looked exactly like Naruto; the same color blonde hair, the same shade of blue eyes, and the same height, the only differences were; her hair was waist-length and she didn't have lines on her cheeks, like Naruto did. She was wearing a black tank-top with white caprees and black sandals.

The other girl had shoulder-length black hair with blue highlights and her bangs hung in her face just above her black eyes, and she stood as tall as Sasuke, she was wearing a light blue short-sleeve shirt with black shorts and off-white sandals.

"Thieves! Someone stop those two girls!", a shopkeeper shouts, running through the crowd.

The blonde girl worriedly glances at the approaching shopkeeper, while the dark-haired girl continues to stare at Sasuke as if she had seen a ghost.

The blonde hair girl quickly grabs the other girl by the wrist, "Come on, Sara!", she says, tugging on her friend's arm. She manages to pull the dazed girl away, then leaps onto a roof-top and lifts the girl with one hand with her, and despite the dark-haired girl being 2-inches taller then the blonde girl; she does it effortlessly, and continues running and jumps from roof-top to roof-top. Then they were gone.

"Who were those girls?", Sakura asks, completely confused over what just happened.

"I don't know, but I think the blonde girl dropped this", Naruto says, picking up a silver tag at his feet.

"That looks like a hospital name label", she replies, taking the tag from his hand, "But this one is for newborns, and seems well-worn out", she adds.

"What is the name on the tag?", Naruto questions.

Sakura stares at the tag trying to read it, "Natsuki… I think", she says, squinting.

"No last name!"

"It's too worn-out to read it", she replies.

"Well, at least we know the dark hair girl's name is Sara, but her last name is another story though", Naruto says, glancing at a still stunned Sasuke.

"The tag is from the Konoha hospital, so maybe Kakashi-sensei will know something about them", Sakura answers, before she gently grips Sasuke's shoulders and leads him to the meeting-spot to wait for Kakashi to show up.

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**Meanwhile…**

**With the Two Girls…**

The blonde girl lands on a sturdy tree-branch far from the village-limits.

"Sara, come on snap out of it!", she says, gently shaking her friend.

"Huh? What happened, Natsuki?", Sara asks, coming out of her shock.

"You blanked out again", Natsuki laughs.

"So who were those boys?"

"I have no clue, Sara, I have no clue at all", she replies.

"Natsuki, where is your pendent?", Sara says.

"Oh Crap! I must of lost it while I was hurrying to get us out of there", she panics, "Oh well, we might as well hurry back home to give this medicine to Hitomi-san", she adds.

The two girls leap through the trees to the tree-house they call home.

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

This is my first Naruto fanfic, so go easy on me!

The next chapter is called; 'The Truth is Revealed'.

Catch you readers next time!


	2. The Truth is Revealed

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

I have nothing to say, but…

Here is Chapter 2!

And…

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Ch. 2

The Truth is Revealed

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**Two Hours Later…**

(Kakashi is only one hour late!)

"Sorry I'm late, you see a black cat crossed my path and…", Kakashi starts to say.

"You're not that late", Naruto huffs, knowing that Kakashi was lying anyway, "We have something more important at the moment!"

"What do you mean?"

"Kakashi-sensei, we ran into two girls who looked like Naruto and Sasuke-kun", Sakura explains, "And one of the girls dropped this", she hands the tag to their teacher.

"The other girl's name we have reason to believe is Sara, we have no clue what their last names are", Naruto adds.

"The tag is from the Konoha hospital, so we think you might know who they are", Sakura continues.

'_Sara, Natsuki… Could it be…? Is it possible that they're still alive!_', he ponders, looking at the tag in his hand.

"So who are they?", Naruto asks.

"Hmm?", Sasuke mutters, his interest intrigued.

"They're Natsuki Uzumaki and Sara Uchiha; Naruto's and Sasuke's twin sisters", Kakashi calmly replies.

"What?", Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura gasps, all wide-eyed.

--------------------------

**Meanwhile…**

**Back with the Girls…**

"Hitomi-san, we're back!", Natsuki calls out.

Some violent coughing is heard from behind a curtained off area of the tree-house.

"Hitomi-san!", Natsuki exclaims, rushing through the curtains, to the woman's bedside.

The 35 year old woman laid in the bed, her mid-back length black hair was braided behind her and her tired blue eyes look over at the girls beside her.

"Hitomi-san, drink this medicine, it will help you feel better", Natsuki says, pouring the medicine in a cup, then offers it to her teacher.

Hitomi weakly pushes the cup away.

"Hitomi-san, you need to drink it, if you want to get better!", Sara exclaims.

"My disease isn't treatable", Hitomi replies.

"Don't say that, we'll find a cure Hitomi-san!", Natsuki protests.

Hitomi begins coughing again, but this time coughs up blood.

"Sensei, something strange happened while we were in the village", Sara brings up, changing the subject.

"What happened Sara?", Hitomi asks.

"We ran into two boys who looked exactly like us", Natsuki replies for Sara.

"Those boys were your twin brothers", the older woman tells the girls.

"How can that be? You told us our families died 12 years ago; when the Kyuubi attacked the village!", Natsuki exclaims, while Sara stood there stunned.

"The truth is, I kidnapped you two, 12 years ago; during Kyuubi's attack on the village", she says.

"But why?", Natsuki questions.

"I kidnapped Sara for ransom and because she is a member of the prestigious Uchiha clan", Hitomi explains.

"That explains why my development was so remarkable", Sara whispers to herself.

'_It explains her Sharingan eyes_', Natsuki thinks, with a ting of jealousy springing up.

"What about Natsuki?", Sara asks.

"There was no real reason why I took her", she flatly says.

Natsuki goes depressed when her teacher said that, '_Sara is special coming from an advance blood-line, while I'm a nobody_', she thinks.

Hitomi quickly senses the changes in her student's mood.

"But that doesn't mean that your brother isn't special", Hitomi adds.

"Huh? What do you mean?", Natsuki asks.

"Only those who had been there during Kyuubi's defeat know this secret".

"What secret is that?"

"That your older brother is the living vessel of Kyuubi", Hitomi replies.

"Are you serious?", Natsuki exclaims, '_Well, that explains the whickers on his cheeks_', she mentally adds to herself.

"You said older brother, so Natsuki is the younger twin!", Sara says.

"Yes, as is you", she adds, then begins coughing.

"Hitomi-san!", both girls exclaim.

"I'm fine".

"Hitomi-san, tell us what really happened 12 years ago", Sara pleds.

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

The next chapter is called; 'Explanations'.

Catch you readers next time!


	3. Explanations

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

Natsuki is based on me; a girlish-tomboy, plus I have a weakness for Naruto's blue eyes!

While, Sara is based on my friend; Megan, a complete tomboy, who won't wear a dress, even if her life depended on it! But, is willing to wear a kimono!

Sorry, 'Dragon Man 180', but I have plans for Sasuke!

Here is Chapter 3!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Ch. 3

Explanations

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"Yeah, tell us!", Natsuki pipes in.

"Okay. I was twenty-two years old when I was given the mission to kidnap a member of the Uchiha clan, I had been lucky that when I reached Konoha it was being attacked by Kyuubi and I could sneak in during the confusion", Hitomi takes a breath, "I figured a younger member of the clan would be easier to take, I then disguised myself as a nurse at the hospital to gain access to the hospital's records. It was there that I found out about a set of twins born to the Uchiha clan, two months earlier", she continued.

"Sara and her brother, right?", Natsuki asks.

"Correct, Sara and her brother; Sasuke", she replies.

"Sasuke-onii-chan…", Sara whispers.

"While I was at the hospital, I saw a nurse rush from the delivery-room with an infant in her arms and then hand the baby into the arms of a man. The man had asked about the child's mother and the nurse replied that she was in the process of delivering the child's sibling", she says.

"Was it me that was being born?", Natsuki asks.

Hitomi nods, "I don't know what compiled me to go into the delivery-room, but when I did, I saw you laying there in the crib; asleep, I couldn't resist taking you, I guess it was my parental instinct".

"Parental instinct?"

"I had given birth to a baby girl two weeks before I was assigned the mission, unfortunately, she only lived for a week", she replies, tears brimming her eyes.

"So the real reason you kidnapped me was to replace your deceased daughter, am I right?", Natsuki questions, with down-casted eyes.

"Yes, that is correct", Hitomi answers, "After I had you in hand, I went to the address I had found. I located the bedroom where Sara was sleeping in, when I was inside the room I over-heard Sara's mother and Sara's elder brother; Itachi, talking about the cold Sasuke had and I could hear him crying from his mother's arms".

"Itachi-ani-chan…", Sara gasps, turning pale and collapsing to her knees.

"Sara!", Natsuki shouts, rushing to brace her friend before she fell over, "You alright?"

"I'm fine, I got a little light-headed", she replies, the color returning to her face, "Please continue your story, Hitomi-san".

"As I was making my escape from the village with both of you, I witnessed the man who had taken your brother, seal Kyuubi within his navel, then the man died after making a rule that no one was to tell the boy of what is sealed inside him or tell anyone else the secret", she says, then begins coughing violently.

"After you kidnapped us, why didn't anyone come looking for us?", Natsuki asks.

"It is because…they thought you…both had died…during Kyuubi's attack…", Hitomi replies in-between coughs, then her body goes limp.

"Hitomi-san?", Natsuki questions, shaking her teacher's shoulder, but she doesn't respond, "Hitomi-san!"

"She's dead…", Sara gasps.

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**Meanwhile…**

**With the Boys…**

"But Kakashi-sensei, if Naruto and Sasuke-kun had twin sisters, how come no one went looking for them when they disappeared?", Sakura asks, for her team-mates as they were too stunned to speak.

"The roofs of the rooms they were in at the time of their disappearances, collapsed and we believed that they died", he replies.

'_I have a sister?_', Naruto thinks, '_So I still have a family member alive_', he thinks, becoming excited at the thought.

"Do you think we should tell Hokage-sama about this development?", Sakura says.

"I'm off to report it", Kakashi states, disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves.

"That was the shortest meeting", Naruto adds.

"What should we do now?"

"Let's get some supper", he suggests.

"Sure, but I'll pay for the meals", she replies.

"Why?"

"To celebrate the discovery of finding lost family members", she says.

"Okay, I vote for beef-pot!", Naruto shouts.

"I was almost expecting you to say ramen", Sakura laughs, grabbing Sasuke by the back of his shirt and drags him to the restaurant.

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

The next chapter is called; 'Sugar Hangovers and Traps'.

Catch you readers next time!


	4. Sugar Hangovers and Traps

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

To 'Dragon Man 180'; Yes, to the Sasuke thing! Hell No, to the Sara thing!

I WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO SARA OR NATSUKI!

I other news; I have a challenge for you readers!

The girls are able to hold their own against their brothers, but what if one of them was against Itachi or Orochimaru?

Pick which girl and who she's against, and tell me the out-come of the fight! In other words, tell who wins!

Here is Chapter 4!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Ch. 4

Sugar Hangovers and Traps

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**The Next Day…**

Naruto lays sprawled on his bed with a damp, cool cloth over his eyes.

"Oh, my head!", he moans, "Shouldn't have drank all that soda last night".

(A/N: I call this a sugar hangover and I've had one before, I couldn't walk straight and I hit my brother on the knee with a glass bottle, and that was before I went to bed, when I woke up the next morning, I had a killer headache!)

Someone pounds on his door, causing him to wince. He slowly sits up, letting the cloth slide off his head and lands in his lap, '_Who can that be at this hour?_', he thinks.

"Naruto! You up?", Sakura's voice calls out from the other side of the door.

He puts his feet on the floor, then staggers to the door, his hair sticking up more than usual and full of tangles.

Sakura pounds on the door again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!", he mutters, unlocking the door, then opens it.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?", he asks, grinding sleep out of his eye, "Don't you know what time it is?"

"Naruto, get dressed, we have a mission to do", she says, forcing her way through the door.

"What mission?", he yawns, picking up a pair of his boxers off the middle of the floor and tosses it into the corner of the room.

"We're going to track down your and Sasuke-kun's sisters, Kakashi-sensei sent me to get you, while he went to get Sasuke-kun", she replies, "We're to meet them at the bridge", she adds.

"Ok, ok! Give me a minute to get dressed", he says, grabbing a pair of pants and a shirt, then heads into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he comes out dressed and runs his fingers through his short spiky hair.

"Let's go!", he grabs his jacket off the back of a chair, then slips his sandals on, "Well, come on Sakura-chan!", he adds.

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**Meanwhile…**

**At the Girl's Tree-house…**

Sara sits up in her hammock, then glances over at the back of Natsuki's head in the other hammock.

She then climbs out of her bed and straightens her baggy off-white, elbow-length long-sleeve shirt over her shin-length light sky blue pants.

Sara picks up a bucket from it's spot by the doorway and heads over towards a river to retrieve some water.

A few minutes later, a twig snaps outside the tree-house, causing Natsuki's eyes to open and peek over towards the doorway.

'_I'll have to deal with them alone, until Sara gets back from her chores_', she thinks, with a smirk on her face.

"Is this their hideout, Pak-kun?", Sakura asks.

"Yes, it is", the Nin dog replies.

"They probably know we're here, because someone stepped on a twig", she remarks.

"It wasn't me this time", Naruto says, defendingly, and glances at Sasuke.

"My fault", Sasuke whispers.

"Let's enter with caution, they probably set up traps", Kakashi warns.

They slowly enter the tree-house, they noticed the back of a head of blonde hair peeking out from underneath a blanket and they could hear light snoring coming from the hammock.

"There's Natsuki, but where is Sara?", Sakura quietly asks.

"She's out getting water, like she does every morning", a voice replies from overhead.

They look up and find Natsuki sitting on the railing of the balcony overhead, she wore a pale pink sleeve-less nightgown with lace over the part that showed her cleavage and it fell to mid-thigh, and she was barefoot.

"But if she is there, then who is…?", Sakura stammers.

"Not one person has ever been able to see through my effigy in the bed trick", Natsuki states.

"It was a trick?", Naruto whispers, '_So it was a doll_', he thinks.

"Now if it wouldn't be so much trouble, which ever one of you has my pendent, I would like it back, please", Natsuki says, with her hand extended out.

Naruto takes it out of his pocket and throws it to her. She catches it in-between two fingers, then removes the leather cord that was draped around her neck and threads it through the hole on the pendent, and ties the cord back around her neck; returning the pendent to it's rightful place.

Then Natsuki stands up on the railing, then pulls out a kunai seemingly from thin air.

"I also know you four are here to take me and Sara back to Konoha, but you'll have to defeat me first!", she states, taking a fighting stance.

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

What could Natsuki be up to?

The next chapter is called; 'Capture and Escape'.

Catch you readers next time!


	5. Capture and Escape

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

Here is Chapter 5!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Ch. 5

Capture and Escape

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Team 7 stands there, quite taken aback by her request.

"So, which one of you is going to go first", Natsuki says, breaking the silence.

She looks over at Naruto, "Will it be you, Onii-chan?", she then looks over towards Sasuke, "Or maybe you, Sasuke-kun?", then she looks over at Sakura and Kakashi, "Or maybe one of you two?", she adds.

"What are we going to do, Kakashi-sensei? We didn't come here to fight", Sakura questions.

"She is probably only testing our skills", Kakashi replies.

"Correct, Jounin!", Natsuki exclaims, "Who's first?"

Before any blows could be exchanged, the sound of a bucket falling to the floor and spilling the water when it hits, breaks the silence in the tree-house.

Everyone inside the tree-house turns to look at the source of the noise, and finds Sara standing there, the color drained from her face, her eyes dilated, with the dropped bucket at her feet. Suddenly, Sara falls to the floor; passing out from shock.

"Sara!", Natsuki worriedly shouts, dropping her guard and leaps off the balcony to run to her side.

Unnoticed, Kakashi appears behind Natsuki and strikes her on the back of the neck, and catches her as she collapses forward; falling unconscious in his arms.

"What do you say we get these two to Konoha", he says, picking Sara off the floor.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura mutely nod and follow their sensei out of the tree-house in a shocked silence.

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**At the Hospital…**

Natsuki slowly blinks open her blue eyes, '_Where am I?_', she thinks.

'_Wait a minute! Now I remember! That bastard Jounin knocked me out with a cheap-shot!_', she growls in her head.

"Sara!", she whispers, bolting up, finding that she couldn't because she was hand-cuffed to the bed.

She searches the hair near her scalp for something, "Where it that…? Here it is!", she mutters, pulling out a hair pin (bobby-pin).

She places the pain in-between her teeth and inserts the other end into the lock of her hand-cuffed wrist.

"Click!", the lock went as the cuffs opened.

"Got-ya!", she silently cheers, slipping her wrist from the cuff and sits up.

She looks around and finds Sara in another bed with an oxygen-mask on her face.

'_That's right, she went into shock when she saw Sasuke_', Natsuki thinks.

Natsuki quietly sneaks over to the door and presses her ear to it.

"So the black-haired girl is the only other survivor of the Uchiha clan beside Sasuke Uchiha?", a guard says.

"Yeah", the other guard replies.

"Only other survivor?', she whispers to herself.

"What about the blonde?"

"That brat; Naruto Uzamaki's twin sister".

"Naruto… So that's my brother's name", Natsuki smirks.

"So who brought them in?"

"Kakashi Hatake and his team".

"The bastard who knocked me out, name is; Kakashi, huh?"

"The doctor should be coming in ten minutes to check up on the Uchiha girl, then we change the guard with the Anbus walking with the doctor", a Anbu says to his partner.

"I can't wait!"

"Me and Sara got to get out of here", Natsuki whispers, "But how?"

She checks outside the window, only to see five Anbus posted out there, '_Damn, not that way!_', she thinks.

She then spots the air-vent, "That will do fine!", she grins.

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**Ten Minutes Later…**

**Outside the Room…**

A brown-haired nurse walks by, pushing her patient in a wheel-chair.

"Good-afternoon gentlemen", she says.

"Good-afternoon, ma'am", the blush.

The nurse passes the doctor and Kakashi.

"Good-afternoon, doctor", she greets.

The doctor nods in response, and continues walking.

"So doctor how is, Sara Uchiha?", Kakashi asks.

"She only went into a mild shock and only needs a few hours of sleep", he replies.

"Good", the Jounin sighs.

They both enter the room.

"How is this possible?", an Anbu shouts.

Kakashi looks at the figures in the beds, "Effigies", he says.

"How did they escape?"

"Look there!", an Anbu points to the vent.

"Where could they be now?"

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**Outside the Hospital…**

"Ah, fresh-air!", the nurse sighs.

She removes the brown wig from her head, letting her long blonde hair fall down her back like a waterfall.

"Got to love the classic form of disguising one's self", Natsuki giggles, throwing off the nurse's uniform.

She picks up the unconscious Sara into her arms from the wheelchair.

"Let's get home", she whispers, running towards the city-limits.

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

The next chapter is called; 'Wings of Chakra'.

Catch you readers next time!


	6. Wings of Chakra

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

Sorry I took so long on updating, but I had a bad case of writer's block.

I'm over it now!

Here is Chapter 6!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Ch. 6

Wings of Chakra

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**At Naruto's Home…**

"I have a sister! That is so great!", Naruto whispers to himself, staring out his window.

Suddenly, he notices somebody carrying someone running along the roof-tops.

'_Natsuki? And Sara?_', he thinks, "I should follow them", he leaps out the window and gives chase.

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**Thirty Minutes Later…**

Natsuki runs towards a cliff, with Naruto close behind.

"Natsuki!", he shouts.

She only peeks a glance at him, before she runs and leaps clear off the cliff.

He runs to the edge and watches in horror as Sara and his sister plummets 500 feet towards the water below.

But to his utter amazement, he sees angel-like wings made of chakra form on Natsuki's back, and slows their falling, until her foot touches the surface of the water; barely making a ripple, the wings dissolve into a golden light; falling like snow.

Natsuki glances up at her brother, then effortlessly; calmly walks a top the water to the bank.

Then she vanishes into the forest, leaving Naruto behind.

"How…did she…do that…?", Naruto stutters, blinking in disbelief.

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**An Hour Later…**

**Back in Konoha…**

"Then she leap off the cliff, and fell to the water below, I thought she would die when she hit the water, but these feathered-wings made of chakra formed on Natsuki's back; slowly down her descended, until she was standing on the water. The wings disintegrated to nothing and she just simply walked over to the bank, carrying Sara, and disappeared into the woods!", Naruto explains.

"It seems the girl has a skill unheard of", Kakashi says, "She tricked the Anbus with dolls", he continues, '_She even tricked me_'.

"Admit it Kakashi-sensei, she tricked you too!", Sakura states, crossing her arms.

An embarrassed blush flares on the Jounin's cheeks.

Tsunade sits behind her desk, resting her chin on her hands; her fingers interlocked, listening to the conversation.

"I've heard enough! We must retrieve Sara Uchiha and Natsuki Uzamaki, before Itachi catches word that his sister is alive", the platinum blonde orders, "Kakashi, you and your team are to accompany a few of the Anbus to bring the girls back, and this time their traps won't be dolls in beds. So be careful!"

"Yes, ma'am!", team 7 salutes.

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**Meanwhile…**

**With the Girls…**

Natsuki sits on the porch banister; standing watch over the tree-house.

Sara slowly walks onto the porch, yawning as she stretched.

"Natsuki, why are we back at the tree-house?", Sara asks, "I thought our brothers took us to Konoha".

Natsuki back-flips off the banister, landing in front of Sara.

"They did, but I escaped with you in my arms", she replies.

Suddenly, Natsuki wavers and collapses to her knees.

"Natsuki!", Sara exclaims, running to Natsuki's side, "You used your wings of chakra again, didn't you?"

"I had to. If I hadn't, my brother would've caught up to me and we would've died when I jumped off that 500 foot high cliff".

"You need to rest Natsuki! I'll set up the traps", Sara states.

"They're set up", Natsuki says.

"Huh?"

"I've already set them up".

"You think they'll be enough to stop a few Anbus?"

"To stop all the Anbus, and the damn Jounin; Kakashi, who knocked me out!", Natsuki snorts.

"AAHH!", a scream rings out through the forest.

"Sounds like someone ran into the first trap!", she smirks.

"Which trap?", Sara asks.

"The pit-fall, with sleeping gas at the bottom".

"Anbus are suppose to be the elite, yet they fell for such a simple trap", Sara says, shaking her head.

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**With the Boys…**

Team 7 and three Anbus stand around a hole with two Anbus at the bottom.

"One simple trap took out 2 of the 5 Anbus", Kakashi sighs, "They're trickier than I first thought".

"Let's continue moving!", Anbu says, just before he falls into another pit-fall, this time filled with laughing-gas.

"Let's be wary of traps as we move", Sakura warns.

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

This is fun! Simple, yet well-hidden traps taking out the Anbus; one by one!

Advisory: No Anbus were harmed when they fell into the traps, they were only immobilized!

The next chapter is called; 'Setting Up the Fights'.

Catch you readers next time!


	7. Setting Up the Fights

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

The reason why it has taken me at least three weeks to update the story, is because I was home for summer-vacation and my computer at home does not, I repeat; 'DOES NOT', have 'Microsoft Word' on it, so I couldn't type and post at home.

I'm back on campus now, so you will be graced with Chapter 7 of Mirror Image.

Here is Chapter 7!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Ch. 7

Setting Up the Fights

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**Ten Minutes Later…**

The last two Anbus were caught in a sticky-wed like trap.

"Did we get rookie Anbus or something?", Naruto asks.

"No, we didn't. The traps are well hidden, even I didn't find a trace of where the trap was till it was sprung", Kakashi replies, standing in front of a tree, "We should be cautious of more tr… WHAA!", he was cut off.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura turn to find their teacher tangled up in the branches of the tree he was standing in front of, he was unconscious.

"What is that thing?"

"It's an illusion tree", Sakura says.

"A what?"

"It's a tree that traps it's victims in dreams", she explains.

"We're the only ones left! Let's keep moving!", Sasuke states.

Naruto and Sakura nod in agreement.

--------------------------------

**Twenty-Minutes Later…**

"There's their home", Sasuke whispers.

"Something's bugging me", Sakura says.

"What is it?", Naruto asks.

"Isn't it strange that after the illusion tree, we haven't run into any other traps".

"I was wondering that too", Sasuke states.

"Shoot, I thought our illusionary dream tree would catch the ones smart enough not to get caught in our other traps", Natsuki's voice sounds.

"It seems, our brother's team-mate has a pretty level-head on her shoulders", Sara adds.

"Yeah, more brains in her pretty little head than that bastard of a jounin; Kakashi!", Natsuki continues.

"Where are you two?", Naruto shouts.

"Up here, my dear Naruto-onii-chan!"

All three look up and find Natsuki and Sara on a branch, 10 feet away.

Natsuki sat on the branch wearing black skin-tight shorts that reached down to her knees, a red belly-shirt under a blue denim jacket, and cream colored sandals, her blonde hair was braided behind her back.

Sara stood beside her, wearing black skin-tight shorts that reached mid-thigh, a skin-tight blueish-green shirt with sleeves that reached to her elbows, and black sandals, her black hair was pulled back in a simple low pony-tail.

"But Natsuki, what are we going to do about the girl? She wasn't in the plan to be here during our fights with our brothers", Sara asks.

"Do you think she'll stay out of it, while we play with our brothers as we test them and talk?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?"

"I can hear you, you know!", Sakura shouts, "Also, the girl has a name you know, and it's Sakura!"

"Then do you agree to not interfere?", Natsuki questions.

"I promise not to step in, but if I feel that my team-mate's lives are in danger, I will step in!", she replies.

"Fine with us!", Sara states, "Sasuke-onii-chan, follow me, if you will", she turns her back and leaps to the next branch.

Sasuke follows without a word.

"Where are they going?', Naruto yells.

"They're going to the waterfall, not far from here", Natsuki answers, "That leaves the treetops for our fight, if that doesn't bother you?', she flip-swings to stand on the branch, "So let's start!", she laughs.

"Let's go!", he smiles.

--------------------------------

**Ten Minutes Later…**

**Half a Mile Away…**

"This will do nicely!", she says, landing on a branch.

"Hey, Natsuki!", Naruto shouts, landing on a nearby branch.

"What is it Naruto?", she asks.

"You seem happy and go-lucky, but Sara is your complete opposite, why is that?"

Natsuki's normally cheerfully bright blue eyes, darken to a sad tone, "She used to be as cheerful and carefree as me, until four years ago; when she was 8 years old", she replies.

"What happened?"

"She had a nightmare so traumatizing, that she went mute for a year; she's been quiet and shy since then, speaking only when she felt was necessary", Natsuki states, remembering the pain her friend felt, closing her eyes.

"What sort of dream can scare someone that badly?", he asks.

"The death of your clan at the hands of your eldest brother", she answers.

"Eldest brother… You mean Sara saw the slaying of the entire Uchiha clan!"

She nods, "Yes, she saw the whole thing through Sasuke's eyes. When she first had the nightmare, we didn't know we had twin brothers and that we were kidnapped, it wasn't until yesterday that I realized that her nightmare was a vision she saw through her brother's eyes, when her clan was brutally murdered by her eldest brother; Itachi", she says, "I've had my share of visions through your eyes as well".

"What have you seen?"

"You battle with Haku, the Chuunin exams; where you encountered Orochimaru, and your encounter and battle with Itachi, just to name a few".

"Do you know the fact that…?", he began.

"My sensei told me what you have sealed inside you, before she died two days age", she simply states, "Shall we begin my testing of your strength, I'd like to finish before lunch-time", she orders, taking a fight-stance.

"Let's begin!", he agrees, also taking up a fighting-stance.

They charge at each-other.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

The next chapter is called; 'Battle of the Siblings'.

Catch you readers next time!


	8. Battle of the Siblings

Mirror Image

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DemonGirl-Setsuna: Hi there! Setsuna here!

I apologize for not updating for such a long time, but I got a bad case of writer's block, and I still have it on Chapter 9 of 'Mirror Image', but fortunately I got over the writer's block long enough to finish Chapter 8!

I may not update for some-time again, so I can sort out my facts for Chapter 9!

Here is Chapter 8!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ch. 8

Battle of the Siblings

-------------------------------------------

**At the Waterfall…**

"This will be our battle-ground!", Sara says, landing on a rock, while Sasuke landed on a rock on the other-side of the falls.

They stare each-other down in silence.

"Sasuke-onii-chan, I know why you're so cold to everyone", she adds, breaking the silence.

"You know nothing about me!", Sasuke bitterly replies.

"It is because Itachi-ani-san, killed our parents and the whole clan", she continues, "Then forced you to watch the whole thing", she closes her eyes.

"Shut up!"

"You didn't want to cry. You didn't want to cry in front of him, and show your weakness", she mocks.

"I said, shut up!", he screams, charging at her, swinging his fist.

Sara catches his punch with one hand, "There's the emotions you locked away", she says, smiling, "I want you to fight with your heart in it".

In a blur, he gets beneath her and kicks her up into the air, and he leaps up to finish his attack, when Sara disappears in a puff of smoke.

"A bunshin?", he gasps.

"No, a Kage bunshin!", Sara's voice says, from above him.

He looks up and sees her a few feet above him, she drop kicks him downwards into the water below.

Sara softly lands on a rock as Sasuke swims to the surface; spitting out water, she starts laughing.

-------------------

**With Natsuki and Naruto…**

Their clothes had rips in them and dirt on them, and they had sticks and leaves stuck in their hair.

"Sara is laughing…", Natsuki whispers, smiling.

"Why are you smiling?", Naruto asks, rubbing the bruise forming on his cheek.

"Sara only laughs when she knows she has the advantage in a fight", she replies.

"What makes you so sure she'll win? Sasuke has the Sharingan eye", he says, swinging a punch at her.

She catches his punch and counter-attacks with a sweeping-kick at his legs, he back-flips over her kick.

"Because Sara does too", she replies.

-------------------------

**Back with Sasuke and Sara…**

"I haven't laughed like that in years", Sara laughs.

"How did you break through…".

"Your Shishirendan", she says, interrupting her brother, "You aren't the only one with the Sharingan eye", she adds, opening her eyes; revealing her Sharingan eyes.

"They're fully developed!", he gasps in shock, noticing her eyes had three-prongs like Kakashi's.

"True, they are fully developed. I fact, I first developed them when I was 9 years old and mastered them by the age of 10", she states, "Shall we test my Sharingan against yours?"

"Fine with me", he says, activating his two-pronged Sharingan eyes.

-------------------------------

**An Hour Later…**

**With Naruto and Natsuki…**

Naruto and Natsuki laid on the forest floor, a few feet from each-other, panting for breath.

Suddenly, they break out laughing.

"That was a fun fight!", she laughs, sitting up.

"I had no idea you knew the Kage bunshin no jutsu too. Where did you learn it?", Naruto asks, also sitting up.

"I learned it reading the scroll through your eyes, when you first learned it", she replies, "I later taught it to Sara, after I mastered it".

"Sasuke was probably really surprised when she pulled that on him!", he laughs.

"Probably!", she giggles.

"Aahh!", a female's scream rang through the forest.

"Huh?", Natsuki gasps, looking in the direction the scream came from, "Sara…", she whispers.

"Was that Sara?", Naruto asks.

Natsuki nods.

"Which way is the water-fall?"

"This way!", she shouts, running ahead.

"Hey! Wait up!", he yells.

"Get out the lead, Naruto!", Sakura exclaims, stopping beside him for a moment, then quickly follows after Natsuki.

"I'm coming!", he shouts, following his sister and his crush.

Sakura runs along side Natsuki.

"Was that Sara screaming out?", Sakura asks.

"Yeah…", Natsuki says, "But how could Sasuke be hurting her? Sara should be a bit stronger than him, so how is he doing it?"

"Could it be he got desperate and is using the curse-mark?", Sakura whispers to her self.

"Do you mean Orochimaru's curse-mark?", Natsuki whispers to Sakura.

"What…?", she gasps.

"The mark he received during the second-part of the Chuunin exam?"

"That's correct…".

"I didn't say anything about it to my brother", Natsuki whispers.

"Thanks…".

The two girls reach the falls first, to find Sasuke covered in black marks; his curse-mark completely activated, gripping Sara by her neck, she was weakly struggling to get free.

"Oh no!", Sakura gasps, covering her mouth with her hands.

"What the…?", Naruto says, arriving on the scene.

Nasuki disappears in a blur and decks Sasuke into the water; causing him to release Sara, she lands on the ground in a heap, coughing and gasping for air.

Sasuke slowly climbs out of the water, glaring at her as she just stood there, looking determined.

He charges at her with the intent of killing, while Natsuki stood there, her right hand glowing with a golden light.

When he got close enough, she flips over his head, touching his left shoulder with her glowing hand.

He stumbles as he takes a few steps, the curse-mark receding, before falling face-first onto the ground, his eyes glazed over as he fell, then he slips into unconsciousness.

"That was so cool!", Naruto cheers.

'_One touch of her hand and she stopped Sasuke's curse-mark rampage! How could she do it?_', Sakura thinks, running to check on Sasuke.

"I only knocked him unconscious, so you shouldn't worry", Natsuki says, as Sakura checks his breathing.

Sara slowly sits up and holds her hand on the bleeding gash on her upper-right arm.

"He beat you up good, huh Sara?", Natsuki states, kneeling next to her.

"Yeah, he did", Sara dryly laughs.

"Let me see your arm".

Sara releases her hold on her arm, and Natsuki gently grasps it's underside with her left hand and her right hand glowed with a greenish light as she touches the gash; the injury starts to slowly heal.

"I should've stopped the test fight, before he got desperate and used his curse-seal", Sara whispers.

"It's not your fault he hates to lose", Natsuki reassures, "Do you think he'd let you stop the test, when you've got the advantage over him?"

"Guess you're right!", she chuckles.

"Boys can be hot-headed", Natsuki laughs, "At least he didn't break the bone in your arm", she adds.

"I was lucky, unlike Sasuke's first victim; that sound ninja, during the second-part of the chuunin exam", Sara whispers, weakly smiling.

"You were", Natsuki smiles back.

"Hey! Are you two coming back to Konoha with us?", Naruto shouts, with Sasuke braced on his shoulder.

"Yeah! We just need to head back to the tree-house to get our stuff!", Natsuki yells back, standing up.

"Okay!", he exclaims.

"Sara, let's go home to our families", Natsuki says.

"Sure!", Sara nods, standing up.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DemonGirl-Setsuna: Well? What did you think? Please review!

The next chapter is called; 'Going to Class!'.

And remember; I won't be updating for a while, till I get over my writer's block long enough to write Chapter 9!

Catch you readers next time!


	9. Going to Class!

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

I apologize to my readers on **Fanfiction** for the very long time since I last updated!

Almost a WHOLE TWO YEARS!

But during that time: I had a bad case of writer's block, had moved off campus back home, been sleeping on the couch in my living-room for the past 6-months, playing my video-games whenever I can on the big-screen T.V. while my step-father is at work; including helping my youngest brother with 'Kingdom Hearts II' and playing 'Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core' on my PSP, doing my chores, and reading all the fan-translated chapters of Naruto as they come out on the web every Friday!

Frankly, my head is spinning!

Oh well…

Here is Chapter 9 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

--

**Ch. 9**

**Going to Class!**

--

**The Next Day…**

"Aahh! Naruto get out! I'm trying to take a shower!", Natsuki screams, throwing everything that wasn't attached to the floor at him with a towel tightly wrapped around her body.

"Sorry! I didn't know you were in there!", he exclaims, dodging the flying objects, "I'm getting used to having to share my home with a sister I never knew I had!", he explains, just as a cup strikes him in the middle of the forehead, "Oww!", he winces, rubbing the bump forming on his head.

"Knock before you enter next time!", she shouts, slamming the bathroom-door shut.

"Cranky…!", he grumbles.

--

**Thirty Minutes Later…**

"Good morning, Naruto", Natsuki greets as if the incident in the bathroom hadn't happened, wearing a black tank-top with blue Capri's, a towel wrapped around her head.

"Morning…", he mutters.

"Sorry about earlier, I tend to get extremely cranky before I've showered", she apologizes.

"I'm moody before I've had my ramen in the morning…", he replies.

"So how did you like your breakfast?"

"It was delicious!", he exclaims, smiling as he rubs his full belly.

"I'm glad you liked it", she smiles, as she takes a seat at the table, "So tell me about the academy teacher"

"Iruka-sensei is a cool guy, when he isn't dragging students into class when they are playing hooky", he answers.

"That's what you get for trying to skip class", she retorts, causing Naruto to glare at his sister, "Well, I got to go to class! See you later!", she says, running out the door.

--

**Ten Minutes Later…**

"This morning was sure eventful…", Natsuki whispers to herself.

"Hey Natsuki!", a female voice calls, accompanied by the sound of running feet.

"Morning Sara", she greets turning to face her friend, "What happened to you? You're drenched! And why do you smell like milk?"

"Well, remember how my clothes got torn yesterday?", she asks, standing in a pair of grey Capri's and a long-sleeved black tunic-style shirt.

"Yeah and…?"

"And my other clothes were still dirty…"

"So where did you get the clothes you're wearing?"

"These used to belong to my mother…"

"That still doesn't explain why you're wet and smell like milk"

"Actually it does. Sasuke-onii-chan saw me this morning wearing our mother's clothes and he ended-up spurting milk out of his nose and mouth all over me…", she meekly replies, "I had no time to clean up or change…"

**(A/N:** _I'd like to give thanks to 'Emily Mage' for the idea in the review she/he sent!_**)**

"You should be able to clean up when we get to the school", Natsuki says.

"I guess so… Well, we're not going to get to class standing here talking"

"You're right. I'll race you there!", she exclaims, running up ahead of her friend.

"Hey! Wait up Natsuki!", Sara shouts, running after her.

--

**At the Academy…**

"Now class, who can tell me how chakra is formed?", the instructor; Iruka, questions the classroom.

"This is so embarrassing…", Natsuki whispers to Sara, "We're 12-years old and in a class with 8-year old children…"

"Is there something you want to share with the class, Natsuki?", Iruka asks, interrupting his newest student's conversation.

"No Iruka-sensei", she answers.

"Then answer the question if you please, Natsuki"

"Certainly…", she replies, as she stands up, "Chakra; The resulting form of energy produced when Physical and Spiritual energies are mixed together within the body"

"Very good, now who can tell me how to use the chakra to perform a jutsu?", he praises, only to have Natsuki and Sara raise their hands, "Uh Sara… Please answer the question", he chooses.

"To use the chakra Hand Seals are performed. This allows the user to expel it out the body in the form of an attack, and requires different Hand Seals for different attacks", she responds.

"Excellent job", he says, "Speaking of jutsu's, it is time to learn how to perform the Bunshin jutsu", he continues, writing the hand-seals on the board.

"Great…", Natsuki sighs, covering her mouth with her hand as she yawns.

"Am I boring you, Natsuki?"

"Frankly yes, Iruka-sensei…", she flatly replies, "If you want me, you'll find me on the roof…", she adds, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

'_A Bunshin…? No, a Kage Bunshin!_', Iruka thinks.

"Me too, sir…", Sara concurs, before also disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

'_Her too?!_', he blinks.

"Whoa! Cool!", the students exclaim.

"Class, I want you to stay here and practice the Bunshin jutsu", he states, as he leaves the classroom to track down the two girls.

--

**On the Roof…**

"See Sara, what did I tell you?", Natsuki giggles, "Didn't I say that class was going to be boring with them teaching us what we already know"

"Are you sure what should have done that?", the female Uchiha asks.

"It wasn't nice to Iruka-sensei and all, but the final test to graduate from the academy was to perform the Bunshin jutsu and we just did the Jounin-level version of the jutsu", she replies, "Besides, remember whenever one of the clones is dispelled we; as the originals, gain whatever experience the clone learned…", she continues.

"So you two already know about the benefits of using Kage Bunshin in any situation…", they heard a male's voice behind them say.

"H-hello Iruka-sensei…", Natsuki squeaks, slowly turning toward the Chuuin-ranked teacher, "Took my invite, huh?"

"Girls, I'd like to see the both of you after-class", he orders.

"Yes, sir…", they mutter, with their heads down in shame.

"Now get inside and stand outside of the classroom", Iruka commands.

"Understood, Iruka-sensei…", the girls say, heading inside followed by their instructor.

--

**A Few Hours Later…**

"Just great…", Sara sighs.

"What's wrong?", Natsuki asks.

"This isn't exactly a good first-impression…"

"Don't worry; we've had good luck on our side for years, so it'll turn out for the better. It always does", the fair-headed girl reassures, "But to make sure…", she trails off, doing some hand-seals.

"Oh, please don't Natsuki…", Sara pleads.

"Don't worry. I have everything under control…"

"That's what I'm afraid of…"

_Ring!!_, the bell rang announcing the end of the school-day.

The hallway is quickly filled by the sounds of running feet and the screams of excited children as they hurried out of their classes past the two pre-teen girls still standing in the hall and out the doors of the building into the fresh-air, and away from the educational-hell.

"Sara and Natsuki, please come inside", they heard Iruka instruct after the noises of the younger students had vanished in the wind.

"Yes sir…?", Sara questions.

"Please, take a seat", he says, motioning towards two chairs as he leaned against his desk waiting for them to be seated before he decided to speak again, "As the two of you know, to become a genin you need to attend and pass the final test in the academy, right?", earning a nod in response from both girls, "But on your first day here you've already playing hooky and sending shadow-clones in your stead, you should be ashamed of yourselves", he reprimands, gaining a flinch from Sara, "But I'm actually impressed, not many of my students can perform the Kage Bunshin…"

"Like my brother?", Natsuki inquires.

"Yes, like your brother; Naruto…", he sighs, "But that is beside the point, before I can decided whether to pass you two or not, I need to learn your strengths and weaknesses to determine who you're more compatible with to create a well-balanced team…"

"Kind of like when the worst-student; Naruto, was teamed with the best; Sasuke-onii-chan?", Sara asks, "Sakura-chan told me…", she explains.

"Exactly…", he nods, "Though Naruto has excelled extensively"

"Well, both me and Sara know the Transformation jutsu", Natsuki says.

"I've had mastered my Sharingan by the time I was 10-years old", the dark-haired girl states.

"I already know Medical Ninjutsu; Sakura can vouch for that, I also have a knack for tricking people with hitogatas & effigies", she continues, "In fact I used those to escape the hospital with Sara just yesterday to get past two-Anbus and a Jounin", she recalls, "Also, Sara and I have the skill to…"

"Excuse me?", a syrupy voice questions from the doorway, causing the three ninjas to turn their heads to look.

What they saw was a beautiful woman with long volume red-hair that covered half of her elegantly-curved face leaving only one of her dark-emerald eyes exposed, dressed in a sultry low-cut black dress that hugged all of her curves and revealed her well-endowed cleavage.

"I hope I'm not interrupting", she says.

"N-n-no ma'am… you're not…", Iruka stammers, as a blush quickly consumes his features and a small stream of blood threaten to dribble down from his nose, causing Natsuki to lightly giggle behind her hands.

"You're cute… Did you know that?", she sweetly coos, "You're just what I was looking for…"

"W-w-what…?", he stutters, as his blush darkens, "I-I-I am...?"

"There is just…one…little…problem…"

"What is that…?"

"Teachers shouldn't be dating their students… It just isn't right…", she says.

"Wait! What…?", he blinks, as Natsuki suddenly starts laughing so hard that she falls out of her chair onto the floor, "Natsuki!"

"Our other talent is to disguise ourselves the old school way with wigs, makeup, and clothes", the red-hair explains, removing the wig and allows her hidden blonde hair tumble down her back, "It actually prevents those who can see through the Transformation jutsu to see through the disguise", the now undisguised Natsuki-clone adds.

"And I'm one of the best", the real Natsuki winks, trying to look cute.

"I admit, she is better at it than me…", Sara states.

"You two are simply something…", Iruka sighs, "And you've impressed me…"

"Seriously?!", the blonde ninja excitedly exclaims.

"You both pass the academy and graduated to Genin…", he nods, "I kind-of had a feeling that you'd pass and I took the liberty of calling the third member of your squad to meet the both of you", he explains, "Please come on in!"

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

Wow!

It's amazing how long a Chapter can be when you type it on a computer straight from your head!

I just hope this tides you guys over until I type and post the next Chapter!

Hopefully sooner than the length of time it took for this one…

Catch you readers next time!


	10. Birth to Team 'Hisoka!

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Well, never mind that!

I would like to say to '**Evil Bunny of Death**', that you will have the answer to your question soon enough!

And in other news!

I'm anxiously waiting for the next Chapter of the Naruto manga to be translated & posted so I can read what is going to happen next!

Oh well…

Here is Chapter 10 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

--

**Ch. 10**

**Birth of Team 'Hisoka'!**

--

"Please come on in!", Iruka repeats.

"W-wait one minute!", Natsuki shouts in disbelief, "How could you already have a third member for us?"

"This is a very special-case, as they were the odd-one out of the latest batch of Genin graduates…", he explains.

"Great! We get the left-over's of the graduates…", the blonde-ninja groans, rolling her sapphire-blue eyes.

"How could you be so judgmental when you never met me?", the voice of a young man questions from behind her.

She turns to look at the one who spoke and finds a male about the same age as her with short shaggy mid-night black hair that was chin-length at the longest-parts and a pair of simply stunning dark-blue eyes, wearing a maroon long-sleeved shirt over a pair of extremely faded-blue jeans, causing a blush to instantly form on her face.

"I'm Sara Uchiha", the dark-haired girl introduces, offering her hand to him.

"Pleased to meet you, but I thought Sasuke Uchiha was the only one to survive the massacre five years ago", he replies, shaking her hand.

"Actually, I didn't even know I was an Uchiha until a few days ago. You see we had been kidnapped from our families' 13-years ago, so I wasn't there during the massacre", she explains.

"I see…", he mutters.

'_Wow! I've never seen Sara so open talking to a stranger, especially about the nightmare that has haunted her for years…_', Natsuki thinks.

"And who might you be, Miss?", he asks, turning towards the blushing blonde with his hand extended.

"M-my name is N-Natsuki U-Uzumaki…", she stutters, as her blush darkens and she takes hold of his hand to shake it, "I-I-I'm sorry for w-w-what I've said…"

"That is alright. My name is Kouichi Miyamoto, it is a pleasure to meet you Natsuki", he greets.

"Nice to meet you too, Kouichi-kun", Natsuki says, biting her lower-lip in nervousness.

"Care to hear why I'm not on a team, besides the fact that I was the odd one out…"

"Sure!", Sara agrees, while Natsuki nods.

"Well, you see. I secretly joined the academy to become a ninja, because my parents wouldn't have allowed me to"

"Why would they do that?", Natsuki asks.

"Well, I had an older-brother who was a ninja; an Anbu to be precise, he was my parents' pride and joy, that was until he left on a mission several-years ago and he was killed in a confrontation with the enemy…", he states, "After that happened, they wanted nothing else to do with ninjas and forbade me from becoming a ninja, but I have to become a ninja worthy of making his memory proud"

"That is such a noble-cause, I do believe that we can get along…", the blonde-ninja responds.

"I'm so glad you're all getting along, now comes the issue of the Squad's name?", Iruka informs.

"I have the perfect name!", Natsuki says.

"What name, then?"

"Team Hisoka!", she answers with a smile.

"I agree!", Sara replies.

"Hmm, Hisoka means 'secret'…", Kouichi ponders, "I like it! With the squad consisting of two siblings no one knew existed and a clandestine ninja, the name fits perfectly!", he agrees, "Team Hisoka is a great idea, Natsuki!"

"T-t-thank you…", she stammers, beginning to blush at his praise.

"Okay, Team Hisoka it is", Iruka mutters, as he writes the name down onto the official paper-work, "You three are now officially Genin", he adds, as he hands them their headbands.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei!", Natsuki cheers, hugging the older man in a similar fashion Naruto did nearly a year ago.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any Jounin to tutor you three at the time", he states.

"I think we can mange until then, Iruka-sensei", she responses.

"Natsuki, we should be heading home soon. I want to get home before the sun-sets", Sara says.

"Alright Sara, we'll go", she replies, detaching from the teacher.

"Mind with I walk you two home?", Kouichi asks.

"Be our guest", the girls accept.

"After you Ladies", he politely bows, extending his hand in front of himself to allow them to pass.

"Thank you", Natsuki nods, smiling as she walks past him.

--

"So tell me Sara, why did you have to be home by sun-set?", Kouichi asks.

"I have to make dinner and Sasuke-onii-chan needs another scare in the kitchen", the dark-haired girl replies.

"Oh, like this morning with the milk!", Natsuki laughs, "I wish I had been there to see that"

"I wish I had seen that too", he says.

"Kouichi-san!", Sara gasps, beginning to blush in embarrassment.

"Kouichi-kun, why are you so intent on seeing Sasuke-kun freak out?"

"I used to be in his class in the academy until my brother died and my parents took me out, I still remember how happy and carefree he was before the 'incident' happened, then he went…"

"Cold and emotionless…?", Sara says.

"Exactly… It was like he lost his will to be sociable"

"I guess we just want to see anything out of him, just to know that he's still human, right?"

"You got that right…", Natsuki sighs.

"Well, we're here!", Kouichi states, as they stood outside the gates to the Uchiha compound.

"So we are!"

"Thank you for walking me to the gates", Sara bows, "Do you two know which house it is?", she asks.

"The largest one in the compound, right?", Natsuki and Kouichi reply.

"Correct, see you two tomorrow…", she says, "Oh, and another thing, Sasuke-onii-chan is supposed to teach me the family's jutsu too…"

"That should be fun"

"Well, good-night and see you two tomorrow then…", Sara adds, closing the gate behind herself.

"Good-night, Sara"

"So, Natsuki…?", Kouichi questions.

"Yes Kouichi-kun?"

"Tell me about your family?"

"I don't know much about my family except that I have an older-twin brother who is in the same squad as Sasuke-kun", she explains.

"Naruto Uzumaki, right?"

"Yeah… But how could you tell?"

"Well there is only one other male in the squad, beside Kakashi-sensei…"

"Oh… I see…"

"Also you have the same hair and eye color as him too"

"Oh… Okay…", she mutters, as her blue-eyes stare at the ground in front of herself as she continued to walk home.

"But there is something different that you have from your brother that I've noticed though", he says, taking her hand into his causing her to stop walking and look up at him.

"Huh…?", she gasps, as she begins to blush.

"You are the most gorgeous young woman I have ever met", he states.

"Wait a minute! You just met me today, you don't even know me!", she stammers, trying to back away from him.

"But I want to get to know you…", he says, stepping towards her.

"We can by hanging out, but it has to be with Sara and our brother's squad too… Is it a deal?"

"I vow on my brother's soul"

"Good…", she retorts, "Now walk me home…"

"As you wish my beautiful angel", he bows, before following after her.

--

**Uzumaki Household…**

"Hello? I'm home!", Natsuki calls out, as she walks in the front-door.

"That you Natsuki?", she heard her brother's voice ask.

""That you Natsuki?", she heard her brother's voice ask.

"Yeah, it's me!", she answers, as she slips off her sandals.

"What took you so long? Academy-classes don't take this long"

"The classes were done an hour ago", she replies, rounding the corner into the kitchen, "Ramen again?"

"What? I love ramen!", he defends, "So what were you doing for that hour?"

"Well, Sara and I had to stay after class…"

"Why… If I may ask…?"

"Well, Sara and I decided to send our clones into class while we sat on the roof; you know just in case we already knew the lessons, which turns out we did. We dispelled our clones after telling Iruka-sensei where we were and waited for him to come, he told us to stand in the hall till after class and he tested us some more, we received our head-bands and then we met the third-member to our team…"

"Wait…wait…wait…! Are you telling me that you and Sara have already graduated from the academy after only one day?", Naruto interrupts.

"Yep, that's right! I'm a bona-fide genin now!", she grins, shifting the half-heartedly tied forehead-protector on her head enough so that the metal caught and reflected the light, "See?"

"So what is your team-mate's name?'

"Kouichi Miyamoto, his older brother was an Anbu", she replies, sitting down in a chair next to the table.

"I see… Would he be the son of the owners of Miyamoto-Foods?"

"I think so… But I didn't find out…"

"Then again, now that I think about it… There is only one Kouichi in the whole village that is around your age…"

"Okay...", she sighs, then quickly points out, "Um… the ramen is boiling over"

"Oh crap!", he shouts, scrambling towards the stove.

'_I think I'm going to really enjoy family-life living with my brother…_', she mentally laughs, as Naruto attempts to remove the pot from the stove without a pot-holder, only to immediately drop it onto the stove from the heat and blow on his scorched fingers trying to cool them down, '_I wonder how Sara is handling life with the ice-cube we call her brother…?_', she thinks.

--

**Meanwhile…**

"AAAAHHHHHH!!", Sasuke's scream comes from inside the house.

"You are so easy to scare, Sasuke-onii-chan…", Sara giggles.

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

I have to say that writing this Chapter has been extremely fun!

Join me in Chapter 11 to find out what will happen!

Catch you readers next time!


	11. The Return of the Bringer of Nightmares

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Well, never mind that!

And in other news!

Again I am anxiously waiting for the next Chapter of the Naruto manga to be translated & posted so I can read what is going to happen next!

Oh well…

Here is Chapter 11 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

**Side-Note: **I forgot to put a word in, but it is fixed now! The word was: '**Itadakimasu**'!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

--

**Ch. 11**

**The Return of the Bringer of Nightmares**

--

**One Week Later…**

**Konoha Market Place…**

Natsuki walks down the street glancing at the produce-stands as her black shirt brushes against her knees, on top of that she wore a pink three-quartered-sleeved V-collared shirt with a pair of simple black-flats on her feet while her waist-length golden-blonde hair was being kept unbound behind her with a wicker-basket hanging from the nook of her arm.

"Good morning. Natsuki, was it?", a shopkeeper asks.

"Yes it is, and good morning to you too", she replies, stopping to greet the man.

"Out doing some morning shopping, I see", he says, "By the way, how is your brother doing?"

"Still asleep in bed when I left", she smiles.

"Well, I want you to take this", the shopkeeper says, holding out a package of wrapped-beef for her to take.

"No, I couldn't possibly take it…", she admits, "I can't afford it"

"It's on the house, as thanks to Naruto for helping me with finding that herb I was looking for"

"Then thank you, it's much appreciated…", she nods, taking the gift from the man and places it into her basket, "Well, thanks again…", she repeats, waving goodbye as she left.

"Bye, Natsuki-chan!", he bides farewell.

"This should be good for beef-pot…", she mutters, '_I better pick up some vegetables for the stew… and some fruit too, God knows Naruto needs to eat something healthier than just ramen all the time!_', she mentally notes, heading towards the nearest produce-shop.

"Now let's see…", she whispers, looking over the displayed products.

"May I help you?", the voice of a young man asks.

"Yes, you can Kouichi-kun…", she replies, recognizing the voice without even looking up, "How fresh are these veggies?"

"The potatoes were picked yesterday and all the other vegetables were picked just this morning", her team-mate answers.

"Okay, I'd like a pound of each, please", she requests.

"Right away, my lady", Kouichi states obediently, beginning to bag the items she had asked for.

"Knock it off, Kouichi-kun!", she threatens.

"Sorry… Sorry…", he apologizes, "Here's your vegetables, anything else?"

"Two pounds of fruit too, please", she adds, taking the veggies from him.

"I'll get right on it!", he salutes, before picking the best of the fruits.

"So Kouichi…?"

"Yes Natsuki?"

"Is there anything to do in Konoha?"

"There is a festival in a few days celebrating the day the Kyuubi was defeated…", he replies.

"On the 10th, right?", she corrects.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"It was the day me and my brother were born"

"Looks like we have to plan a double celebration, don't we?"

"I guess so!", she giggles, before something peculiar caught her attention from the corner of her eye, causing her to turn her head to look directly at it.

The figure was walking down the market-place street dressed in a high-collared black-cloak with red-clouds printed on it and a straw-hat with strips of cloth hanging from the edges obscuring the face from view to people who weren't closely observing the individual. The face she spotted was that of a man in his late-teens/early-twenties with black-hair; the bangs hanging partially in his face and the tips long enough to reach his lips, and what appeared to be stress-lines under his eyes, but the thing that really made her take notice of this man were his eyes, his piercing red-eyes with three tiny black-tomoes; the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan.

"_If you see a man who looks like an older-version of Sasuke wearing a black-cloak with red-clouds printed on it, be very careful! He is the one who killed __Sasuke and Sara's clan!"_, Naruto's voice echoes in her mind, as she recalls her brother's warning, '_Itachi…Uchiha…! What is he doing here?_', she ponders.

"Hey! Earth to Natsuki!", a male's voice says.

"Huh…?", she gasps, coming out of her daze and turning her head back to face her team-mate, "Yes, Kouichi-kun?"

"So how old are you and Naruto going to be?", he asks.

"13 years old…"

"The same age as me", he smiles, "Oh, here is your fruit", he adds, handing the bagged-produce to her.

"Thank you, Kouichi-kun", Natsuki utters, "Well, I got to go home and start on the beef-pot", she says, turning to head home.

"So the festival…?"

"Sure, Kouichi-kun!", she shouts, as she starts running.

'_This is bad news! If Itachi is here in Konoha, it must mean he's after my brother and the Kyuubi sealed inside of him!_', she mentally-notes, weaving through the crowd as she ran, '_I can't let that happen!_'

--

**A Few Minutes Later…**

**The Uzumaki Residence…**

Natsuki walks in the door of the apartment she's sharing with Naruto, slightly panting for breath.

"I see, you're home", she heard her brother say, as he pokes his head around the corner into the entryway as she removes her shoes, "And why are you out of breath?"

"Well, I'd like to see you climb the stairs while carrying 4-pounds of food…", she lies, '_I can't let him know Itachi is here in the village… Knowing my brother, he'd rush off and try to take him on by himself…_', she concludes, as she walks into the kitchen, "You seriously eat ramen three-times a day, don't you?", she says, watching him stirring it inside the pot.

"Well you weren't home when I woke up and I got hungry waiting for you to return", he explains.

"Fine, fine!", she groans, "Just go sit down at the table and I'll finish cooking your noodles for you…", she says, pushing him towards one of the chairs, "Now sit there while I chop up the vegetables for the beef-pot we're having later"

"Beef-pot…? How did you manage to get beef on our budget?"

"It was a gift from one of the shopkeepers as thanks for helping him find an herb"

"Oh yeah, I did help him with that…!"

"Well, here you go! Eat up!", she states, placing a large bowl full of ramen onto the table in front of him.

"Itadakimasu!", he exclaims, before beginning to devouring the noodles, "These are pretty-good…", he says around a bite of food, "What did you add to these…?"

"A 'special' spice of mine", she replies.

"Uh-ha…", he nods, continuing eating his noodles.

'_Keeping my brother and Itachi apart won't be easy…_', Natsuki thinks.

--

**An Hour Later…**

Naruto stands on top of a roof-top staring out at the scenery, letting the wind tousle his spiky blonde-hair.

"Naruto-kun, I would like you to come with me…", a calm emotionless male voice says from behind him, causing the pre-teen Genin to turn around.

"You!", he growls, upon seeing the missing-nin, "Itachi!"

"Will you come quietly or do I have to take you by first…?", Itachi calmly questions, standing in front of his prey with a stance that spoke of indifference.

"You must be out of your mind if you think I'd let you take me!", Naruto shouts, charging towards his hunter, prepared to swing his fist at him.

Itachi stood unfazed until the last moment before taking half a step to the side and easily grabs the young Genin's flying fist, roughly twisting his arm behind his back and effectively pinning him in place with a yelp.

"Release me you, bastard!", he snarls, struggling to loosen the vice-like grip on his wrist while Itachi slowly turns him to look eye to eye with him, and when he tried to break eye-contact with his captor, his chin is tightly seized in a bruising-grasp keeping his head in place to maintain the connection.

"Now it's time for you to sleep, Naruto-kun…", Itachi states, intensely glaring down into his prisoner's blue-eyes, causing them to glaze-over and the eyelids to slowly droop closed, as Naruto falls limp in his arms from the influence of his Sharingan-eyes, "I greatly apologize to you for having to do this…", he mutters, starting to carry his quarry towards the edge of the village.

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

The Queen of the Evil Cliffy is BACK!

And to find out what is going to happen!

Join me in Chapter 12!

Catch you readers next time!


	12. Everything Isn’t What It Seems

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Well, never mind that!

Did you enjoy the Cliff-hanger I gave you?

Still wondering what is going to happen?

Well, your questions will be answered!

Maybe…

Except for '**Bonfiore'sGirl**' who got it right!

So, without further adieu…

Here is Chapter 12 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

--

**Ch. 12**

**Everything Isn't What It Seems**

--

"Where could Naruto be…?", Sakura mutters, as she paces back and forth, "He's usually here before Kakashi-sensei…"

"The idiot probably over-slept…", Sasuke scoffs.

"I find that hard to believe, Sasuke-kun. Natsuki is awake before he is and wouldn't let him be late for a meeting…", she informs.

"What seems to be the trouble?", Kakashi asks, as he appears in a puff of smoke.

"Kakashi-sensei, Naruto still has shown up", Sakura worriedly states.

"That doesn't sound right…", the Jounin ponders.

"Kakashi-san!", a male voice calls out, as a ninja dressed in Anbu-garb comes running towards Team 7 and takes a knee in front of the ninja in question.

"What is it?"

"I've been charged with orders to inform you that 'He' has returned to the village again", the Anbu answers.

"What…?", Kakashi gasps.

"Itachi…", Sasuke growls under his breath, knowing who exactly they were talking about and who he was after, before bolting away from the group in the direction of Naruto's apartment.

"Sasuke…! Wait!", Sakura shouts, "Where is he going?"

"Naruto may be in danger, Sakura", the Team-captain explains, as he darts past her.

"What?", she screams, quickly following after her team-mates.

--

**Uzumaki Residence…**

"Open up!", Sasuke demands, pounding on the door, "Naruto, open the door!"

"Sasuke, what is the matter?", Sakura asks, not knowing what was wrong.

"What are you guys doing here?", a female voice questions, causing Team 7 to see Sara standing there dressed in a blue T-shirt with a raised-collar and white tight-shorts that reached her knees.

"What are you doing here, Sara?", her brother inquires.

"Well, Natsuki was supposed to meet me to go clothing-shopping, but she didn't show up… So I came to get her, Sasuke-onii-chan"

"Natsuki didn't meet up with you either?", Sakura says.

"Yeah… So her brother didn't meet up with you…?"

"The door is locked, and no one is answering", Sasuke states.

"I can solve that problem", Sara replies, pulling out a house-key that didn't go to her our home, "Natsuki gave me an extra-key incase she accidently locked herself out…", she continues, inserting the key into the lock and turns the knob, opening the door.

The three members of Team 7 and Sara rush into the kitchen and the first thing they hear is the sound of snoring coming from the shadowed-table, upon switching on the light they find Naruto slumped over on the table with a large-bowl overturned on top of his head and a small-puddle of saliva dribbling from his mouth.

"What the…?", Sasuke blinks.

"Sakura, wake him up…", Kakashi says.

"R-right…", she nods, going over to her Team-mates side, "Naruto… Hey Naruto… Wake up…", she whispers, shaking him by the shoulders.

"This is weird…", Sara mutters, walking over to the stove to turn off the burner of the over-boiling pot.

"What is weird, Sara?", Sakura asks, still trying to shake Naruto awake.

"Natsuki wouldn't leave the stove on and go out with Naruto sleeping unless she knew that someone was going to be here to turn it off", she explains, picking up a note from the counter-top, "See, she left a note…"

"Let me see that…", Sasuke states, trying to take the note from his sister's hand.

"You don't have to be rude, Sasuke-kun", Sakura chides.

"I prefer to read it", she replies, pulling the piece of paper out of his reach, _"_Dear reader,

As you must already know by now, Itachi has been spotted in Konoha, most likely after Naruto. I have drugged Naruto and gone off disguised as my brother to try to take him on.

I apologize to you Sasuke-kun for interrupting your goal, but I can't let him get Naruto or harm Sara.

And tell Sara that I'm sorry for breaking my vow to go shopping with her, but this was more important.

Signed,

Natsuki.

P.S. By the time you're reading this note, the beef-pot should be done, so could you please turn the stove off, if you haven't already!_"_, she read.

"That's just great!", Sasuke groans.

"How are we suppose to track them down?", Sakura questions.

"I know a little birdie who can help", Sara answers, going to the window and finger-whistles loudly, only to be replied by the chirping of a little blue-bird that lands on her out-stretched hand, "Hello Chobi…", she greets the bird.

"A bird… That is how we're going to track our brother…", her brother flatly states.

"Chobi isn't an ordinary bird, he is a special type of Chakra-sensing bird that Natsuki and I trained ourselves…", she states, defending the tiny creature.

"Then let's get going!", Naruto says, popping his head up and the sleeping-powered finally wore off.

"About time you woke up Naruto!", Sakura growls, punching him up-side the head, "Now get a move on!"

"OW! You didn't have to hit me so hard, Sakura-chan!", he complains.

"Get the lead out then!", she yells, with a raised fist.

"I never expected Sakura to be so violent…", Sara whispers to Chobi, '_I hope Natsuki will be alright until we get there…_', she mentally prays, looking out the window at the blue-sky.

--

**Meanwhile…**

**At One of the Akatsuki's Hideouts…**

"I see you caught the Kyuubi-brat, despite what happened last month…", Itachi's tall blue-skinned partner named Kisame says, as he watches the older Uchiha put the limp disguised Natsuki onto the floor.

"I know my Genjutsu had no effect on you, so quit faking…", he states, ignoring Kisame's comment.

"Your Sharingan is as impressive as I heard it was…", Natsuki smirks, despite the being found out as she stood up.

"You can also drop the disguise, I know you're not Naruto-kun…", Itachi adds.

"What…?", Kisame gasps.

"Pretty perceptive of you…", she replies, wiping her cheeks clean of the make-up drawn wickers with the jacket-sleeve, "You're the first person to ever see through me disguises…", pulling away her brother's off of herself to reveal the clothes she wore underneath.

A simple mid-thigh length orange sleeveless Chinese-style dress with a brown broad-belt with a gold lock-shaped buckle, red-orange cloth elbow-guards, and black 2-inch heeled boots, then she pulls off the short-blonde wig from her head allowing her long golden-blonde hair tumble down unbound.

"A girl… and she looks like the Kyuubi-brat…", the blue-skinned ninja mutters.

"My real question is, if you knew I wasn't really Naruto why did you kidnap me?", she asks, pulling out a kunai out of thin-air in preparation for her battle.

"…"

"Fine then, don't answer me…", she scoffs, throwing the weapon at her opponent and follows it up with a charge at him while forming hand-seals.

'_Kage Bunshin no jutsu…_', Itachi thinks, recognizing the pattern of seals as he dodges the flying-blade.

"Not going to even try to defend yourself!", she mocks, not realizing that she should have been keeping her attention on both Sara's eldest-brother and his comrade, as Kisame appears behind her swinging his giant-sword; Samehada, slicing through her charka and causing it to completely vanish as it was devoured, preventing her for performing her jutsu.

"Foolish girl, you should know better than to not pay attention to others around you", Kisame sneers, grabbing her by the throat and lifts her into the air, as she wraps her fingers around his wrist try to twist his vice-like grip from her neck and starts kicking the 6'3" ninja trying to get free, "Your struggles are futile girl, with a flick of my wrist I could easily snap your neck like a chickens…", he taunts, tightening his grip on her neck.

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

Oh crap!

Natsuki is in some serious trouble now!

How will she get out of this?

Join me in Chapter 13 to find out!

Catch you readers next time!


	13. Everything Isn’t What It Seems 2

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Well, never mind that!

In other News!

So, without further adieu…

Here is Chapter 13 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

--

**Ch. 13**

**Everything Isn't What It Seems 2**

--

"How does it feel to find out the consequence for tricking us, little girl?", Kisame taunts, as he continued to hold the kicking 4'9" tall ninja off of the ground by her neck.

"Release me, you ugly fish-faced bastard!", she shouts, finally finding a foot-hold against his chest and tries to use it as leverage to break from his single-hand grip.

**(A/N:**_ Oh crap!_**)**

"U-ugly fish-faced?!", the blue-skinned ninja growls, tightening his grip by using two-hands around her neck, cutting off her air-supply which causes her feet to slide from his chest and resume kicking at him to try to get free.

'_Crap… I shouldn't have said that… Is this how I'm to die…?_', she thinks, as her vision begins to blur and darken at the edges.

"Kisame…", Itachi sternly says.

"Yes, Itachi-san?", he asks, looking over his shoulder at his partner.

"Release her…", he orders.

"What…?"

"Are you questioning me?", he demands, glaring at him.

"Fine…", he sighs, loosening his grasp allowing Natsuki to fall from his hands and land on the ground in a heap before she clutches at her throat coughing and gasping for breath, "I just want to know why though"

"She is more valuable to us alive than dead…", he states, causing Natsuki to momentarily stop coughing as her eyes widen, realizing that she was just bait for her brother.

"Huh?"

"She needs to be alive to lure Kyuubi's vessel to us, Kisame…", he explains, confirming Natsuki's theory.

"Oh, I get it!", Kisame exclaims.

'_Fish-face definitely is lacking in the brains department…_', Natsuki concludes in her head, as the one she was mentally bad-mouthing binds her hands together and then ties her feet.

"Kisame…"

"Yes?"

"I want you to leave the room. I wish to speak with our prisoner, alone…"

"Sure, Itachi-san…", he agrees, quickly leaving the room before he angered the Uchiha any further.

Natsuki simply sits where she had been dropped and tied-up, and back against the wall as she watches Itachi come towards her.

"So tell me, why did you disguise yourself as Naruto-kun?", he asks, as he crouches down to eye-level with her.

She responds by turning her head away from him and closes her eyes with a grumble.

"You did it to protect your brother, didn't you Natsuki-chan?"

Her eyes snap open and quickly turns her head back to face him, "H-how do you know who I am…?", she stammers.

"There was a rumor floating around that Naruto's twin sister had been discovered to be alive, I simply went to Konoha to verify it…", he replies, "And since the rumor about you was true, then the rumor about my little sister Sara being alive must be true too…"

"If you so much as harm her in anyway, I swear I'll kill you!", she threatens.

"Do not worry, she isn't in any danger…", he says, "From me anyway…"

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?", she shouts, glaring into his eyes, "I can't believe what you say, you're probably going to kill her like you killed your clan!"

Itachi's left eye minutely twitches, the movement being so tiny that it was barely noticeable unless you were paying close attention.

"W-wait…", she gasps, as her anger died down, "You didn't…", she began to say.

"Your rescue-party is here…", he states, interrupting her, before slightly coughing a little bit.

"Wha…?", she blinks, taking a moment to realize what he had said, '_I know I didn't imagine it… That was a hint of regret… What is going on?_', she ponders, as he cuts the ropes from around her ankles and lifts her to her feet.

"Come on…", he orders, leading her towards the outside by her bound wrists.

"I can lead myself", she growls, swatting his hand off of her wrists by swiftly pulling them towards herself and starts to walk in front of him.

She has to lift her hands up in front of her face to shield her eyes from the bright sun-light, and feels Itachi take hold of the back of her brown leather-belt as her eyes refocus on the small group of 5 that had come to save her standing at the bottom of the cliff she stood on, but she also knew that one of them had also come for another reason as well.

"Natsuki!", she heard Naruto yell.

"Hey there Naruto", she sheepishly replies.

"Hello Sasuke…", Itachi says, looking down on his younger brother.

"Itachi…", the younger male Uchiha growls.

"Sara, you're looking well…", he adds, shifting his gaze towards his long lost sister.

"Itachi-ani-san, If you so much have hurt Natsuki I'll…!", Sara shouts.

"I'm fine Sara! He didn't hurt me, but his blue-skinned fish-faced partner did!", Natsuki informs, '_It's good to see Sara not go into shock at the sight of Itachi…_', she mentally sighs in relief.

"Itachi, you bastard! Return Natsuki, before I have to get physical with you!", Naruto threatens, causing Natsuki to sweat-drop in embarrassment and Itachi to smirk is amusement from his empty-threat.

'_Naruto… Aren't you forgetting that you currently don't have the strength to defeat Itachi…_', she inwardly groans.

"It seems your brother and friends are worried for your welfare, Natsuki-chan…", Itachi whispers into her ear from behind, "I think I should return you to them…"

"Huh…?", she gasps, not expecting him to say anything like that and turns her head to face him.

"But before I do that…", he continues, gently cupping her chin in his hand, "I'm going to leave you with a parting gift…", he adds, as his Sharingan shifts and becomes more solid like a three-bladed Shuriken with his pupils turning red, "Mangekyou Sharingan…", he says.

Natsuki truly felt her eye-lids become heavy as she actually fell underneath the powerful Genjutsu of Tsukuyomi, passing out and goes limp in his arms.

"If you want your sister back so much, you better be quick and catch her, Naruto-kun…", Itachi says, lightly shoving her body from his arms and off the cliff.

"Natsuki!", Sara screams, watching in horror as her closest-friend fell head-first off the cliff.

Kakashi not letting him-self be distracted by the shock of the unconscious ninja falling leaps forward and catches the plummeting-girl before she hits the ground, landing softly on the ground with her safely in his arms.

"That was so cool, Kakashi-sensei!", Naruto exclaims, easily impressed.

"Naruto… this isn't the time right now…", Kakashi states, sweat-dropping.

"Oh, right…", he mutters, remembering who they are up against, looking up at the cliff towards where their enemy stood.

Or should I say, had been standing, but had vanished and left no trace behind.

"Damn it…", Sasuke curses under his breath, upon learning that his target had escaped.

"I guess we have no choice now, but to return home to get Natsuki medical-attention…", the Jounin sighs, positioning Natsuki onto his back.

"I agree… Itachi-ani-san probably hit her with Mangekyou Sharingan…", Sara says.

"What makes you say that, Sara?", Kakashi asks.

"Well, when we were growing up and being trained by Hitomi-san. Me and Natsuki had been put through Genjutsu exercises until we were immune to S-rank level illusions, and after I had mastered my Sharingan, we trained until she was immune to all the type of illusions a normal Sharingan could produce…", she explains, "The only type of Genjutsu that Natsuki could fall under is those created by a Mangekyou Sharingan, only because neither of us have encountered it before…"

"Then medical-attention for Natsuki is best…", Sasuke grumbles, still angry from not being able to truly confront his brother.

'_You're not fooling me, Sasuke-onii-chan… You're mad from not being to exact your revenge…_', Sara thinks, knowing what her twin's feelings were.

--

**Half-way Back to Konoha…**

"Uhh…", Natsuki groans, as she slowly blinks her blue-eyes open, "What happened…?"

"Natsuki?", Naruto questions, running to her side.

"Hey there, Naruto…", she weakly greets.

"Are you alright?", Sara asks.

"Yeah… Why wouldn't I?", she blinks in confusion, "Let me down, Kakashi…", she instructs, trying to climb off his back.

"Are you sure, Natsuki?", Kakashi questions, lowering her to the ground.

"Yeah, I'm sure…", she replies, wobbling to stand on her feet.

"You were hit with Tsukuyomi?", Sara inquires, "You should be incapacitated…"

"What, the most powerful Genjutsu of the Mangekyou Sharingan…?", Natsuki asks, "I think so… The last thing I remember his Sharingan changing-shape and him muttering something, and then I blacked out…", she answers, holding her head.

"Do you remember anything else, like what you dreamed of?", Kakashi questions, knowing of the nightmares Tsukuyomi brought on.

"No… I don't recall having neither a dream or nightmare…", she responds, "Then again I normally don't remember them anyway…"

"But what about your tiredness?", Sakura asks.

"That blue-skinned fish-faced bastard swung his sword and devoured my chakra…", she states, "How else am I supposed to feel…?", she adds, leaning on her brother's shoulder for support.

"The same-thing happened to me when he swung his Samehada when I last encountered him", Naruto informs.

"I think we should still be cautious and have Natsuki looked over by a doctor", Sara says, worried about her friend.

"I said I'm fine… Just give me a day or two of rest and I'll be alright…", she protests.

"Natsuki, just this once… Please take it easy…", Sara begs, "You never allowed yourself to rest when you were sick before, can't you just this once do as you're told…"

"Aw… Please… Not the puppy-dog eyes…", Natsuki groans, "Fine… I'll rest in the hospital…", she sighs, giving in.

'_Works every-time…_', Sara snickers in her mind.

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

Natsuki has a weakness that only Sara can exploit!

Join me in Chapter 14 to find out going to happen!

Catch you readers next time!


	14. Preparing for the Festival

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Well, never mind that!

I have been having a lot of fun writing this story!

So much so, that I have begun to post it on '**MediaMiner**'!

And as for the reason why I hadn't updated is because I had moved three-weeks ago and was without internet for a week, had to unpack my stuff, and then I got sick…

So, without further adieu…

Here is Chapter 14 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

--

**Ch. 14**

**Preparing for the Festival**

--

**A Few Days Later…**

"Natsuki, you should be taking it easy", Sara advises, as they run down the street chasing someone/something.

"I've already spent two-days in the hospital resting, any loner and I would have gone insane from boredom…", the blonde ninja states.

"Could you two ladies finish this another time, the target is getting away", Kouichi says.

"Sorry…", they apologize.

"He vanished in that alleyway….", Sara informs.

"Natsuki, I want you to hang back, me and Sara can handle this…", their male team-mate orders.

"Oh really…?", she scoffs, stopping just outside the alley, "Fine, let's see what you can do…", she adds, while her team-mates head into the dark alleyway after the mission-mark.

"He went under the crate…", Sara whispers.

"Alright…", he nods, getting onto his hands and knees to look under the crate, and has a pair of glowing-eyes glaring back at him, "Come here you…", he says, reaching out to grab the target.

"MWAR!", the target hisses, swiping an appendage at him and creates 4 tiny scratches on the back of his hand, causing Kouichi to quickly withdraw his hand.

"God damn cat!", he curses.

"What's wrong? Can't handle a little kitty-cat on your own?", Natsuki laughs from behind him.

"And you think you can do any better?"

"Of course…", she smirks, walking past him and crouches be the crate, peering underneath, "Here Kitty-kitty…", she gently calls, rubbing the fingers on one of her hands at the cat and making chirping-noises, "Come here, Tora…"

Slowly, but surely the brown-striped cat with a ribbon on it's right-ear comes creeping out from under the crate and starts rubbing it's snout against her fingers, and she moves her fingers to scratch under the cat's chin while she uses her other hand to lift the cat up into her arms.

"Good kitty…", she coos, scratching the cat behind the ears and earns a purr of contentment from the cat.

Kouichi just stands there with his jaw dropped at how fast and effortlessly she got the target, "H-how…?"

"You need to know how to appease an animal…", Sara giggles, "Me and Natsuki have a talent for it…"

"Only because we grew up in the forest", Natsuki comments, "Tora, you have to stop running away from your owner… I know you don't like her, but every-time you run away she will also hire a ninja to catch you…", she whispers to the cat, "But… If you need to get away from her for an hour or so, you can come to my house and have all the milk you want…But you have to go back to her afterwards, okay?", she quietly promises, earning a lick-kiss from the renegade feline, "I take it that's a yes…"

"Well, Mission Recover Runaway Tora, is a success", Sara smiles.

"Let's head back. We still have to get ready for the festival", Kouichi states.

"Oh yeah, the festival!", the blonde ninja gasps, "But there is a problem, Sara and I don't have kimonos to wear…"

"We could ask our brothers if there are any left behind by our mothers'…", the female Uchiha says.

"Easier said than done… It may work out for you, but Naruto doesn't have a thing of our mom's in his possession…", she sighs, "Except a little knick-knack he wears on the sleeve of his jacket…"

"He doesn't even have a picture of your parents?"

"Nope…", she shakes her head, as she strokes Tora's fur.

"That's not good…"

"That's alright. It will just make it so much more fun searching for the truth…", she chuckles, as she opens the door to the room where they receive their missions and Tora's owner waited.

"Tora? Did you find Tora?", the cat's owner questions.

"Don't worry, Madam Shijimi. Tora is safe and sound", Natsuki says, setting down the cat onto the floor, "Remember our deal…", she quietly reminds, before he starts walking to his owner of his own free-will.

"Oh, there you are my cute Tora-chan!" the Fire-Lord's wife exclaims, hastily scooping up the feline and tightly nuzzles him against her cheek, "I was so worried about you!"

"I can really tell why he runs away…", Sara whispers over to her team-mates.

"No kidding…", Kouichi agrees.

"At least with my deal with Tora, not a lot of ninjas will have to be hired to locate him in the future…", the blonde ninja states, watching as the woman pays the hiring bill at the assigned-table, "At least not when I'm home…"

"Young lady, I want to thank you!", Shijimi energetically thanks, taking hold of one of Natsuki's hands into her own, "I don't know what you did, but this is the first time Tora-chan has ever willingly come to me!"

"It was nothing", she says, smiling.

"As thanks, I want you to take this as extra", she states, handing the stunned girl a small wad of cash.

"I couldn't possibly…", she gasps, seeing that the small-amount of bills in the bundle were the 3-digit number dollars.

"No, no, no… I insist!", the wealthy-woman firmly informs, continuing to hold out the money to the teen.

"T-t-thank you, ma'am…", she hesitantly says, taking the money from the gracious-woman.

"If and whenever my little Tora-chan runs away, I would like that young lady to be the one to return him", Shijimi declares, turning towards Tsunade.

"Only if she isn't on another mission at the time", the 5th Hokage informs.

"Then that would be alright, if I have to hire a different-ninja while she is out on other missions", she decides, turning and heads towards the door, "Let's go home, Tora-chan", she says, vanishing through the door.

"Wow…! That is a lot of money!", Sara gasps, staring at the money her friend held in her hand.

"I still can't believe that happened to me…", Natsuki mutters.

"Well Team Hisoka, you have made an extremely good first-impression with the Fire Lord's wife…", Tsunade states, getting up from behind the table she sat behind to stand behind the Jounin-less squad, "That normally doesn't happen…"

"Thank you for the words of kindness…", the blonde-ninja bows, while slipping the money into her pocket at the same-time.

"Now considering that there is a festival today, you three probably be wanting to be going to it", the older woman says, "Here is your pay from the mission and the three of you go have fun", she informs, giving the teens their cut of the pay.

"Thank you, ma'am", the three of them bow, before leaving the building.

"Well, I'd better head home and see if I'm lucky enough to see if there is some clothes left behind by my mother", Natsuki sighs.

"If you don't find anything, you can borrow one from my house", Sara says, "I do remember seeing a few kimonos while looking for clothes our first & last day at the academy"

"Hmm… That sounds a good back up plan", she agrees, "So meet up at my house or yours?"

"Yours… If you don't find a kimono, you can send Chobi with a note stating that you did find one and I'll bring you the spares to choose from"

"Sounds like a plan!", Natsuki nods, "See you two at my house in half an hour!", she exclaims, running off before Kouichi could say anything.

"So Sara…?"

"Yes Kouichi-san?"

"Can I walk you home? Since Natsuki took off", he asks, offering her his elbow.

"Certainly", she nods, taking hold of his arm and starts walking with him.

--

**Uzumaki Residence…**

"I'm home!", Natsuki calls out, as she walks in through the door, "You here Naruto?"

"I'm in the bedroom!", she heard him shout.

"What are you doing?", she asks, peeking into the room, to find her brother on his hands and knees on the floor looking like he was searching for something underneath his bed.

"I'm looking for something"

"I can see that… But what are you looking for?"

"Ah-ha!", he exclaims, bringing his body upright, "I was looking for this", he replies, smiling victoriously as he holds up a gold-comb with two dark-pink gem en-crested flowers.

"It's beautiful!", she gasps.

"It used to be our mother's, believe it or not…", he says.

"Wow…!"

"I think you should have it", he adds, handing the hair-piece to her, "Especially at the festival"

"That's great and all, but I don't have a kimono to wear", she explains, looking around at the items thrown all around the room, except for the corner where her hammock and chest of possessions were and sat immaculate.

"Oh yeah, a package came for you in the mail today!", he exclaims, walking past her into the kitchen to grab a box off the table.

"A package…?"

"I was shocked too, who outside of Konoha knows where you live?"

Natsuki takes the box from her brother's hands and sits down on Naruto's bed; which surprisingly was still perfectly made, and uses her house-key to slit the tape open, pulling the flaps up she is greeted by the sight of cherry-blossom pink cloth with a smaller red cloth on top neatly folded inside the box.

"What the…?", she mutters, removing the red cloth and places it on the bed, before gripping the pink cloth in both hands and starts to remove it to find the cloth beginning to unfold as she lifted the item, having to stand up and let the box fall to the messy-floor just to get a clear look at the article that had been mailed to her.

The item completely unfolded turned out to be a kimono made out of high-quality silk and Natsuki could tell just by holding it that it was slightly longer and would go past her ankles, but that was nothing a little pinning wouldn't fix, it was just the fact that she had received the very thing she required to attend the festival with and that it was such an expensive kimono that left her stunned.

"Naruto… What does the box say of who sent the package…?"

Naruto blinks for a moment at his sister's request before kneeling onto the floor to pick up the box and looks at the shipping-label, "It doesn't say who sent it", he replies, before removing a card from inside the box, "But there is a card with it"

"A card…?", she gasps, snatching the small piece of paper from his hand, looking at it herself.

"What's it say? What does it say?"

"It says: **'**Happy 13th Birthday Natsuki Uzumaki!

I hope you enjoy the festival while wearing your birthday present!**'**", she reads, "But it doesn't say who it is from either…"

"Strange… How are you supposed to thank them if you don't know who sent it?", Naruto comments.

"I don't know, but maybe I'll find out eventually…", she says, looking at the beautiful silk kimono again, "Well, I have to get ready for the festival. If Sara and Kouichi-kun get here before I'm ready, please don't make my team-mates wait outside", she informs, gathering the kimono, obi, her brush, and the gold hair-comb, before disappearing into the bathroom, "Also don't forget to get ready either", she adds, before closing the door and the sound of the shower turning on is heard.

--

**Half an Hour Later…**

Naruto stands in front of the mirror in his room, straightening his orange kimono with blue obi around his form and finger-combs his hair.

"That is the best I'm going to get it…", he sighs, "It would be better if I could have taken a shower before Natsuki took over the bathroom…"

A knock on the door echoes through the apartment, causing Naruto to answer the door and when he opened the door he is greeted with the sight of Sasuke, Sakura, Kouichi, and Sara standing on his door-step.

"Good Afternoon, Naruto-kun!", Sara greets, while wearing a blue knee-length kimono with a sky-blue obi and her shoulder-length hair pinned-up with 3 blue hair-clips.

"May we come in, Naruto?", Sakura, her hair was pinned up elegantly and she wore a red kimono with pink cherry-blossoms printed on it with a golden-orange obi.

**(A/N:**_ Go to my profile to find the link to the picture I found! Only because '**FanFiction**' is being a pain and not letting me include the link!_**)**

"Oh! Sure, sure… come on in!", he stammers, snapping out of his daze and motions them inside.

"Nice apartment, Naruto-kun. Is Natsuki-chan ready?", Kouichi questions, wearing a maroon kimono with a black obi.

"Still in the bathroom…", he replies, pointing towards the bathroom, "By the way Sasuke, this is the first time you come to my home…"

"I've been here before, but you weren't home…", the stoic male Uchiha states, wearing a navy-blue kimono with a dark-grey obi, "When my brother came looking for you the first time…"

"Really?!", Naruto gasps.

"Don't mind him, Naruto-kun. He's in a bad mood since me and Sakura-chan had to drag him here", Sara informs.

"That sounds a lot like Sasuke-kun", they heard Natsuki's voice say from behind them.

They turn around to see Natsuki walk out of the bathroom wearing the cherry-blossom pink kimono with red obi she received in the mail. Her blonde-hair was elegantly folded; so that half of her hair rested against the nape of her neck, and pinned up using their mother's hair-comb, her eye-lids were delicately colored with frost-pink eye-shadow while her cheeks were dusted with blush that only enhanced the natural-features of her face, and her lips were gracefully painted with red lipstick, making her no longer resemble the tomboy they knew.

"So…? How do I look?", she asks, looking nervous.

The three male ninjas begin blushing because of her appearance.

"W-what… What is wrong…?"

"Wow! Natsuki, that is quite a change in appearance!", Sakura exclaims.

"Thank you…", she blushes.

"Natsuki, you now look like the beautiful princess I see you as", Kouichi says, bowing before her.

"Stop it, Kouichi-kun! You're embarrassing me!", she screams, hiding her face behind her hands.

"Hey, Natsuki?", Sara asks.

"Hm…?", Natsuki peeks out from behind her hands.

"Where did you get the kimono?"

"I don't know where it came from, but I got it in the mail", she replies, spinning around to show off the kimono.

"Who sent it?", Sakura questions.

"Don't know…", she shrugs, "It was anonymous…"

"Who cares about that? Let's get going to the festival!", Naruto exclaims.

"Tonight is a night of celebration!", Kouichi cheers, "It is the day Naruto-kun and Natsuki-chan turn 13!"

"Oh, yeah…! That's right!", Sara gasps.

"Hey, Sara… Is it just me or does your brother seem to be smitten…?", Natsuki whispers to her best friend.

"Really…?", she quietly asks, glancing over at her sibling, "I think you're right… But it's more like shock…"

"Whatever…", Natsuki sighs, "Just grab him so we can go party!", she adds, holding onto the nook of Kouichi's arm.

"Come on, Sasuke-onii-chan!", Sara says, grabbing him by the hand and drags him from the apartment.

--

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

The festivities are soon to begin!

And so is a break up!

Of who or what, I will not say!

Just join me to find out!

Catch you readers next time!


	15. Troubles at the Festival

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

----------------------------------------------------------

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Well, never mind that!

Who sent the silk kimono to Natsuki?

That is my little secret…

Sorry…

Also, I have a question for you the readers!

**Who/what are your Naruto favorite couples?**

This is going to have absolutely NO effect on the couples in my story!

I'm just curious about what pairings you like!

You can even include my Original-Characters in the listing!

Now, with that off my chest…

Here is Chapter 15 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

-------------------------------------------------------------

**Ch. 15**

**Troubles at the Festival**

-------------------------------------------

"So what do you think we should do first?", Sakura asks.

"Let's get some sweets!", Natsuki suggests, "My sweet-tooth has been screaming all day!"

"Come to think of it… I could go for some sweets myself…", Sara says.

"Wait a minute! You like sweets?", Kouichi questions.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You and Sasuke are twins, and he doesn't like sweets at all"

"That's because he is such a sour-puss…", she scoffs.

"Uncomfortable situation…?", Naruto whispers.

"Yeah…", his sister replies, "Go get the snacks…?"

"Sure…"

"Hey, guys… Um, me and Naruto are going to get the snacks, do you want anything?"

"Just get me dango and get my brother some rice-balls with bonito-flakes", Sara answers.

"Could you get me some dango too?", Kouichi asks.

"Get me a chocolate-covered banana, please", Sakura says.

"Anything else?"

"Some apricot-candy, please", Sara and Sakura reply.

"Anything else for you, Kouichi-kun and Sasuke?"

"How about some potatoes with butter?", Kouichi states.

"Sasuke-onii-san would have tomatoes, if they have them", Sara pipes-up.

"Would you knock it off, Sara!", Sasuke growls.

"I told you he was a sour-puss", she smiles.

"If they don't have that, get me some okonomiyaki", he adds.

"Okay, now I know what everybody wants to tide them over for an hour or so…", Natsuki comments, "Be back in a little bit", she waves, before following her twin towards the food-stands.

----------------

**A Few Minutes Later…**

"So did we get everything we were asked to get?", Naruto asks, holding 2 chocolate-covered bananas, 1 okonomiyaki, 1 potatoes w/butter, and 2 of the 4 apricots-candies they bought.

"I think so…", his sister replies, holding the other 2 apricot-candies, 4 rice-balls w/ bonito-flakes, and 3 dangos, "Hey Naruto?"

"Yeah…?"

"What's with the stage-show?", she questions, motioning towards a large stage surrounded by a crowd of people.

"It's a Noh-mask performance of the 4th Hokage defeating the Kyuubi…", Naruto answers, with sadness in his voice.

"Oh look… It's 'HIM'…", they heard a villager whisper to another villager.

"Why did the 3rd Hokage have to show that fox mercy…?", the other villager mutters.

"Don't listen to them, big-brother…", Natsuki reassures, "By being Kyuubi's vessel, you're a hero by protecting the village…"

"You mean that…?"

"Yes, even the 4th wanted you to be seen that way… But you know people…"

"They can be pig-headed and blind to the truth…"

"Only believing what they want to believe!", the blonde twins laugh at the same-time.

"Thanks Natsuki, I needed to hear that", he chuckles, wiping away a tear of mirth, "It feels go to finally have a biological family-member after all the years I was alone without parents…"

"It's nice to have a blood-relation too…", she smiles, "We should head back, Sasuke-kun seems to be the type that gets cranky if he doesn't have his rice-balls soon…"

"He most likely is…"

"Well, Sara definitely does if she doesn't get her sweets", she giggles.

"We should hurry then"

"Right!", she exclaims, running ahead of her brother.

----------------

"We're back!", Natsuki exclaims, waving one hand to signal where they were to the group.

"It took you long enough, Natsuki!", Sara shouts, running towards the female-sibling.

Natsuki silently sighs, before grabbing a dango and holds the treat sideways just in time for it to be lined up with Sara's mouth, landing between her lips.

"Here's your dango, chew on that while I give everyone else their treats and I'll give you your apricot-candy when I'm done, okay?"

Sara nods while she happily eats the tri-colored balls on a stick.

"Good…", she smirks, as she hands her cache to their respective-requesters.

"Sasuke-Onii-san, what's wrong?", Sara asks, when she notices that he was just staring at the rice-ball in his hand.

"Nothing…", he mutters, '_This isn't the time to be having fun, while Itachi has been recently here!_', he thinks, looking around at the group of laughing teens surrounding him.

"…", she sighs, woefully looking at her brother with the sense that something was wrong, as he walks away from the group.

"Sasuke-kun, where are you going?", Sakura questions, seeing him leave, only to receive no answer as he vanishes among the crowd, "What's the matter with him…?"

"Who knows?", Naruto shrugs.

"All that really matters is that we have fun tonight!", Natsuki adds, "Right?"

"I agree…", Sara quickly says, "My brother is just being a sour-puss…"

"Hey look! There's a group-dance going on!", Kouichi exclaims, pointing further up the street.

"Really? Let's go dance, what do you say, guys?", Natsuki states, grabbing Kouichi's hand and excitingly pulls him towards the dancing.

"What do think we should do?", Sakura asks, while Naruto shrugs in confusion.

"This could be fun, come on!", Sara smiles, grabbing their hands and starts dragging them in the same direction her friend went, "Now play nice…", she adds, pushing them together when they reach the middle of the crowd, "Don't pay my brother any mind, he just needs some time alone…", she whispers to Sakura, before vanishing among the dancers.

"Uh… Did she just…?", Naruto stammers.

"I think she did…", Sakura blinks, "So… Today's your birthday?"

"Y-yeah, it is…"

"Then dancing with you will be my gift to you, okay?"

"Sure…", he smiles, '_Oh my god! I'm actually dancing with Sakura-chan!_', he thinks, blushing.

----------------

**Meanwhile…**

Natsuki and Kouichi gently sway to the music; chest to chest, with her head resting against his shoulder, stopping to look into each-other's eyes when the music ends.

"I'm getting thirsty, does the birthday-girl want anything?", he asks.

"Some green-tea, please…", she replies.

"I'll be right back!", he answers, walking into the crowd just as another song began.

"I might as well wait for him…", she mutters, sitting down on a bench.

"Where is he…?", she asks herself after several minutes pass, "It shouldn't take this long to get something from a vending-machine…", she continues, as the song that began when he left ended and a new one started, '_Where in the world is he? And I like this song too…_'

"Waiting for someone?", she heard a male voice ask.

"Huh?", she gasps, looking up to find a male a few years older than her wearing a black-kimono with a red-belt standing there, "Y-yeah, I'm waiting for my boy-friend…", she responds.

"Boyfriend, huh…? Well, you look bored sitting here waiting, so would you at least like to dance to pass the time until he returns?", he courteously requests, offering his hand to her.

"Uh… S-sure…", she blushes, as she accepts his hand and allows him to lead her to the dancing-crowd.

As she and the mysterious-man danced, Natsuki took the opportunity to examine her dancing-partner, he had raven-black hair that appeared to be made of silk, the top-half of his face was covered by a golden-colored fox-mask with a kind-smile on his exposed-lips, leaving her to imagine what the rest of his face under the mask looked like, and the images were making her blush.

"You are so cute when you blush…", he whispers into her ear, making her blush darken, "Beautifully cute…", he adds, before leaning forward and lightly kisses her on the lips, causing her eyes to widen in shock as the song fades-away and when she blinks, the anonymous-male had vanished.

"Wha…?", she gasps, glancing around searching for any sign of the man she had just danced with, but he had vanished without a trace, the only thing she realized was that she was standing on almost the same spot she was standing when Kouichi left, '_Was I day-dreaming…?_', she asks herself mentally.

"Natsuki!", she heard a familiar voice call out, causing her to turn her head towards Kouichi as he navigates through the crowd.

"What took you so long? I was waiting for at least six-minutes", she says.

"I got hungry, so I stop for something to snack on", he explains.

"Oh really…?", she frowns, "I can see you didn't even get the drink I had asked for…"

"No, I got your… Crap, I forgot…", he scorns himself, "I'm so sorry, Nat…"

"I don't even want to hear, Kouichi-kun!", she growls, walking away from him and as she walks through the crowd her feet bumps into something, and upon looking down to see what it was, she silently gasps and lightly touches her tingling-lips as her eyes fall onto the same golden-fox mask the male was wearing, '_It wasn't a dream…_', she thinks, as she bends down to pick it up off the ground.

-------------------------------------------------------------

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

Well, that was interesting…

Just who was that Masked-man?

Also, I'll ask again!

**Who/what are your Naruto favorite couples?**

And Remember:

This is going to have absolutely NO effect on the couples in my story!

I'm just curious about what pairings you like!

You can even include my Original-Characters in the listing!

All I have left to say now is…

Catch you readers next time!


	16. Breaking Up the Joyfulness

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Who was that Mysterious-Man that danced with Natsuki?

That is again my little secret…

Sorry…

A few reviewers on '**Media-Miner**' had asked some questions, which I'll try to answer without spoiling what I have planned…

To '**black fox dawn**': the bloodline thing is hard to say considering I know who their parents ARE, I think their father doesn't have one (My thoughts anyway) and mom… the Manga hasn't released much information on her.

As for the summoning of foxes… Wait and see…

To the reviewer called '**Tanaka Hanako**': I started writing this story years ago so it's messed up. The one who hired Hitomi will be revealed in a later chapter. There was more to the Itachi kidnapping Natsuki thing, but that is a secret… For now…

And as for the Chakra-Wings… that is another secret to be revealed at another time…

So without further adieu…

Here is Chapter 16 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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**Ch. 16**

**Breaking Up the Joyfulness**

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'_Up until now…What have I been doing?_', Sasuke ponders, watching the multi-colored lights and the moving crowds of people attending the festival as his legs hung down from the tree-branch, '_How can they be so carefree while Itachi is still out there?!_', he mentally growls, before quickly snapping his head up towards the sky and sees 4-silhouettes against the full-moon.

The four figures land on the tree-branches around him, one was a male with dark-tanned skin, his black hair was pulled up in a top-knot and 6-arms, another was a male of large-size with an orange Mohawk and clumps on the sides of his head, the third one was a male of pale-complexion with shoulder-length grayish-silver hair and what appeared to be a second-head growing out of his back, and the forth & final person was a female with mid-back length red-hair.

"Who the hell are you?!", the Uchiha venomously questions.

"The Sound Four…", the 6-arm man replies, "East Gate's; Kidoumaru"

"South Gate's; Jiroubou", the hefty-male says.

"West Gate's; Sakon", the fair-headed male answers.

"North Gate's; Tayuya", the female declares.

After they introduced themselves, they quickly vanish as fast as they had appeared, causing Sasuke to parry a punch from one, evade a charge while counter-attacking another by kick one in the throat and sending them flying backwards. He barely dodges another punch from the big-guy, before grasping his arm and throws him in the direction of the guy he kicked along with the guy who threw the first-punch, only for them to disappear in an explosion of smoke.

Sasuke diverts his eyes towards behind him and finds the four of them standing on the ledge of the building across from the tree, looking smug.

"You caught me at a bad time", he growls, "If you want more, I won't hold back"

"Heh…Stop yapping like a wimpy dog", Sakon sneers, "Come on… I'll make a nice melody from your broken ribs…", he taunts, causing Sasuke to leap at him, "I'll handle this…", the guy states, leaping to encounter him in the air.

Sasuke blocks his kick and slides past him with a smirk on his face, as he pulls on a string of wire that pulls Sakon's legs downward; pinning his feet to the rooftop.

"My legs… Those strings!", he curses, as Sasuke drops down to deliver a kick towards his back-side, but he blocks the blow by grabbing his leg and then grabs his fist when Sasuke tries punching him too.

But Sasuke counters by twisting his body to kicking at his opponent with the other-leg, forcing him to still hold onto the limbs he had captured and block at the same-time, exposing his abdomen to a punch delivered by his remaining hand.

"Let me hear the music…", Sakon mutters, with a smirk just before Sasuke goes flying backwards.

'_W-what…?!_', he mentally gasps, as his back collides against a tree-trunk.

"Wow, your bones have a low-tone…", Sakon mocks, "Let's make a more high-pitched sound, eh?"

'_Damn it! Where did that attack come from?_', Sasuke thinks, as he wipes some blood from his mouth, only to quickly turn his attention to his right and leap over Kidoumaru's kick, then the 6-armed man spits something at Sasuke that causing him to use both arms to block, only to cause them to stick together and whiplashed towards Jiroubou, who strikes him on the back with his fist and sends him sailing in Sakon's direction again.

"Now to finish the scales…", Sakon smirks.

Sasuke grabs the edge of the roof and maneuvers his legs underneath his enemy's body, kicking him into the air.

"What the…?!", he gasps, as Sasuke appears behind him.

He backhands him in the chest and follows through with a punch to the face, then kick slams him into the rooftop; completing his Shishirendan.

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**Meanwhile…**

"Naruto, I need to tell you something", Sakura says, ceasing in her dancing.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?"

"It's about what happened to Sasuke-kun during the Chuunin-Exam…", she explains.

"Okay…", Naruto nods, "Let's go someplace else, where no-one else can hear us…", he whispers, as they walk over towards an empty-ally, "So what happened...?"

"Well…"

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**A Little While Later…**

"So that's what happened. I never knew", Naruto replies in understanding, "Orochimaru… I met him while I was away"

"Really?!"

"I heard he was one of the Legendary Three. He's really powerful and also very dangerous…"

Sakura turns her head to stare at the ground in deep-thought which Naruto notices.

"Don't worry!", he reassures, "Sasuke won't give in to someone like that! He's strong enough as is! I promise!"

"Thank you, Naruto. I needed to hear that", she smiles.

"You getting hungry, Sakura-chan?"

"Maybe a little…"

"Then I'll buy you something!"

"But it's your birthday…!", she protests.

"I don't mind paying!", he exclaims, gently pulling her towards a food-stand.

'_Naruto…_', she thinks, '_Almost nothing can damper his cheeriness_'

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**Back with Sasuke…**

"Heh, why would Orochimaru-sama want some weak-ass like him?", Sakon scoffs, as he holds Sasuke up in the air upside-down by his ankle, "Kimimaro had more potential than this one"

'_Wha…Why?! I land every blow of my attack, yet this guy seems to be unhurt_', Sasuke thinks, staring up at his opponent in a daze.

"If you stay in the shitty village here, you'll always be weak like everyone else. You'll never become powerful", Sakon taunts, "Playing family games with your comrades will only make you rot"

"Come with us! If you do, Orochimaru-sama will give you strength!", Tayuya states, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen.

"Agh!", he winces in pain, as the curse-mark at the base of his neck throbs.

"So what will you do?", Sakon asks, as he tosses Sasuke to the side like he was a piece of trash.

He cries out in pain as his back crashes against the outside wall of a building, and painfully peaks open an eye to see the Sound Four encircled in front of him.

"I'll make this clear. No hesitating", Sakon says, "Will you come? Or not?", he questions, watching as his quarry clutches at his curse-mark, "Regeardless, it seems it's pointless to bring you against your will. Orochimaru-sama can be a pain… I always end up wanting to kill these kinds of indecisive brats"

"Just try it!", Sasuke growls, as the curse-mark spreads across his flesh with a look in his eye that made him look like a cornered-animal.

"You… the cursed seal…", Sakon mutters, as Sasuke charges at them and in the blink of an eye, Sasuke is sent flying backwards again.

"You're not the only one Orochimaru-sama has taken a liking to", Sakon retorts, brushing some of his hair from his face to reveal similar marks on his skin, making Sasuke gasp in shock, "That seal isn't something you use so carelessly. And well, it looks like you can't control it very well, but it you continue to 'throw it open' like that, little by little the seal will erode away your body", he explains, "Because you are still it the 'first stage' it appears the decay is still slow, however if it erodes you away completely you will cease to exist… Forever!"

Sasuke groans in silent-pain as the marks of his curse-seal recedes.

"Instead of gaining power with the seal you will be bound to Orochimaru-sama", Tayuya clarifies, "For us, we have already lost our freedom. In order to gain something you must throw something away", she continues, "What is your goal? Will you go on forgetting, surviving in this pathetic village, even while injuring your companions? Forgetting about Itachi Uchiha?"

At the mention of his brother's name sends an involuntarily-shiver through his body as an image of Itachi flashes in his mind.

"Do not forget your goal. This village will become nothing but shackles to you. It would be best to be rid of these worthless ties. If so, you can gain even greater, splendid power", Sakon informs, causing Sasuke to narrow his eyes at him, "Do not forget your purpose…", he adds, as he and the other three ninjas leap away & vanished.

After watching them leave, Sasuke looks down at his hand just as a leaf lands on his open-palm, crushing it as an image of Itachi using Mangekyou Sharingan on him pops into his head.

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**An Hour Later…**

"I can't believe Kouichi, treating me like that! And on my birthday too!", Natsuki angrily mutters to herself, as she continues walking away from the festivities, she stops for a moment to stare at the golden fox half-mask she held in her hand, '_Who was that guy?_', she mentally questions.

"Hey, Natsuki!", she heard someone call out from behind her, causing her to turn towards the voice.

"Sara?", she asks, seeing her friend running towards her, "Why aren't you enjoy the festival?"

"I saw you storm off away from Kouichi-san. Is everything alright?"

"I don't really know. He had left to go get me a green-tea and he was gone for two whole-songs, and when he came back he didn't have my drink", the blonde ninja explains.

"And he said that he got hungry while searching, right?"

"Yeah… How do you know?"

"He had approached me and asked me to dance"

"He did what…?!"

"At first I had refused, until he told me that you told him to give me some company, since Sasuke-onii-chan had left. Then he got something to eat and returned to you"

"That lying piece of…!", she growls cutting herself off, "Doing this to me on MY birthday!"

"He probably meant well, trying to cheer me up after my brother left in another one of his moods", Sara says, attempting to quell Natsuki's rage.

"You're probably right, but that doesn't mean he is going to get off easy though. Lying to you and me"

"Natsuki…", she sighs, slightly shaking her head, "Where did you get that mask?", she asks, changing the subject.

"Oh, this?", she gasps, remembering that she was holding the mask her mysterious dance-partner had left-behind, "While Kouichi was off being a jerk, a guy wearing this mask danced with me and then as suddenly as he had appeared, he had vanished leaving his mask behind"

"Mysterious…", Sara comments, "So have you had enough of the festival?"

"Yeah, Kouichi has spoiled my festive-mood", she replies, "So, where is my brother and Sakura?"

"Last I saw them, they were dancing together", she says with a devilish-grin on her face "After I had pushed them together, that is"

"Wow, I've never seen this side of you in awhile", Natsuki remarks, "So, do want to walk me home? I don't want to be alone in case I encounter Kouichi again, I might guess kill if I do"

"Sure thing", she smiles, "I've had enough of the festival for one night, as well"

"Thanks, Sara"

"Hey, that's what friends are for"

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**A Half-Hour Later…**

**The Uchiha Residence…**

Sara steps out of her bedroom wearing a pair of black-shorts and a black tank-top while running her fingers through her recently let-down shoulder-length hair.

"Sasuke-onii-chan, are you home?", she calls out, as she walks towards the door to his room and sees him standing by his dresser staring down at a group-picture of him with the rest of Team 7, "You are home. Why didn't you reply when I called out to you?"

"Why should I answer to callings of someone who hasn't experienced the same pain as I have", he coldly says, laying the picture face-down onto the dresser before turning to face her, "You may be a Uchiha by blood, but I'll never see you as such"

"True, I may not know what you have been though after knowing each-other for nearly two-weeks!", she retorts, crossing her arms and locking her knees to stand her ground, "And the reason I'm not getting closer is because you won't let me", she continues, wagging a finger at him before turning to leave, taking a few steps before she looks over her shoulder at him, "You're being just as cold as Itachi-ani-san…", she mutters at him; loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough to force him into hearing her words, causing him to tense up at her accusation while he watches her walk out.

A moment later, he has vanished from where he had been standing and appears behind his sister, "You don't even know!", he roars, followed by Sara's scream.

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**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

That was interesting…

Natsuki & Kouichi had a lovers-spat last Chapter!

And the Uchiha-siblings got into a fight…

Points to whoever guesses where I got the idea for Sasuke & Sara's argument from!

Join me in Chapter 17 to find out what is going to happen!

Catch you readers next time!


	17. Self Imposed Mission

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

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**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

Also, I apologize for the delay on updating, but I had hit a bad-case of writer's block and I'm in the middle of preparing to attend an Anime-Convention in a few weeks.

Anyway…

Still, no one has guessed the answer to what had sparked my inspiration for Sasuke & Sara's argument at the end of Chapter 16!

Well, I'm just going to give you the answer…

The correct answer is: Dane Cook's 'Brain-Ninjas/Why women win fights' routine!

Now without further adieu…

Here is Chapter 17 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

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**Ch. 17**

**Self-Imposed Mission**

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**The Next Morning…**

"Last night sure was eventful", Natsuki sighs, as she walks with her hands behind her head, '_Especially, the part when that mysterious-guy danced with me. Oh, I wish I knew who he was…_', she blushes at the memory, "Oh well, enough with the daydreaming... Sasuke-kun just better not still be in a sour mood or he'll learn to regret ruining my buzz", she growls, '_On second thought… His bad-mood and leaving early did allow my brother to have a pleasant birthday_', she mentally recants, '_So it wasn't a complete bust!_'

She stops in front of the Uchiha-House and knocks on the door, "Sara? You home? I thought we could maybe go out and do some shopping!", she calls out, but doesn't receive an answer, "Hello?", she asks, as she slides open the door.

'_No matter how many times I come here, it's always creepy…_', she thinks, as she steps inside, "Sara? You here?", she questions, as she travels further into the house, heading for the stairwell, '_She's probably still sleeping…_', she chuckles in her mind.

As she approaches the top of the steps, she notices a crumpled heap on the floor and instantly recognizes the form as her friend/sister-figure.

"Sara?!", she shouts, rushing to her side, "Sara, are you alright? Speak to me!", she asks, as she gathers her body into her arms.

"Uh…", Sara groans, slowly blinking her dark-grey eyes open.

"Who did this to you, Sara?"

"It-it was my brother…", she replies, "I made a reference of how he is acting as cold as Itachi-ani-san, and as I was walking away he suddenly attacked me"

"Where…", she began, "Where is Sasuke now?"

"I-I don't know… But he was packing a bag before he attacked me"

"I see…", she mutters, '_So Sasuke-kun intends to leave the village…_'

"We need to tell Tsunade of my brother's departure"

"I agree, but you need to be check-out at the hospital first"

Okay…"

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**Hokage Building…**

'_I can't believe that Sasuke-kun attacked Sara; his own flesh & blood, like that…?!_', Natsuki thinks, as she approaches the door to Tsunade's office, "How could this get any worst…?", she wonders aloud to herself, as she knocks on the door and opens it when commanded to.

"Natsuki, what are you doing here?", the female Hokage questions, from behind her desk with a male-teen with black-hair tied-up in a ponytail and beady-dark eyes standing in front of it.

"It's Sasuke-kun he…", she began.

"I already know, Sakura found out last-night tried to stop him from leaving, but he knocked her unconscious"

"He attacked Sakura too?!"

"What do you mean, 'Attacked Sakura too'?"

"He attacked Sara last night after she made an off-hand comment to him about how cold he was acting", she explains.

"Sara was attacked as well?!"

"Yes…", she nods, "She's at the hospital being checked out by the doctors"

"I see…", Tsunade sighs, "Well, Natsuki I want you to go stay with Sara to make sure she's alright"

"Understood…", she agrees, "But what about Sasuke-kun?"

"Don't worry, I'm about to send a Team after him"

"Okay…"

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**The Hospital…**

"So Tsunade-sama is sending a Team to retrieve my brother?", Sara asks from her bed with an I.V. in her arm.

"That's what she said…", the blonde teen replies, as she looks out the window.

"You don't think they can do it?"

"I believe they will, my brother is a member of the team…", she states, "But I just can't help worrying for your sake"

"What do you plan on doing?"

"Whatever do you mean, Sara-chan?"

"I know you better than you think, Natsuki. You're planning on doing something"

"You got me!", she grins, "I just want to make sure that they do succeed in bringing your brother back"

"I won't stop you…", the raven-haired girl sighs.

"You can't, even if you wanted to"

"Just be careful. That's all I have to say"

"Thanks Sara", she says, as she ties her hair up into a ponytail with a red-ribbon and walks over to the window, "I'll be back as soon as I can", she vows, before she leaps out of the open-window.

"Stay safe, Natsuki…", Sara whispers.

"Now which way am I supposed to go to follow the 'Sasuke retrieval' team?", Natsuki mutters, as she stands in the large-gate leading out of Konoha scratching her head.

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**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

Well, Natsuki is going after Naruto's Team who is going after Sasuke!

What is going to happen?

Join me when I post Chapter 18!

Catch you readers next time!


	18. Valley of the End

**Mirror Image**

By. DemonGirl-Setsuna

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Hi there! Setsuna here!

Welcome back readers!

How did you like the last Chapter?

In other news…

Apparently Naruto's mother; Kushina, had a _Very_ unique type of Chakra.

So, I hope this truly answers your question about the bloodline thing `**black fox dawn**', the Uzumaki-Clan were known for having incredible stamina/chakra & had/has strong vitality. Case in point, Kushina surviving a process that is infamous for immediately ending the life of others…(Ex. Gaara, Yugito Nii, etc.)

As for Natsuki's 'Chakra Wings', they're simply a form of Chakra Shape-Manipulation.(Ex. The Rasengan)

And now without further adieu…

Here is Chapter 18 of 'Mirror Image'!

Please Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Ch. 18**

**Valley of the End**

**Hours Later…**

Natsuki stood on the top most branch of a tall-tree surveying the surroundings, '_I pray that Choji-kun and Neji-san will be alright…_', she mentally hopes, '_Though I'm worried about Kiba-kun, Shikamaru-kun, and my brother…_', she adds to herself, "Just where are you, Naruto…?"

"Kon kon!", an animal cries out in the distance, causing the teen to turn towards the sound.

"Sounds like Setsu has picked up both Sasuke's & my brother's scents…", she smirks, leaping in that direction.

'_Please don't let me be too late!_', she mentally exclaims, as she clears the forest's edge onto a rocky out crop over-looking a waterfall-canyon headed by two giant-statues of two different-looking males facing each-other.

But she doesn't have very long time to gawk at the landscape when a burst of lightening up river quickly catches her attention followed by a muffled-scream of pain.

A gasp catches in her throat at the sight of her twin being held off the 'ground' in a blood-soiled one-handed choke-hold; the hand belonging to her best-friend's twin, Naruto had a bleeding hole through his right-shoulder as well.

Suddenly, Sasuke lets out a loud grunt of pain as his wrist is tightly grabbed by Naruto's left-hand and wrenched from his neck, causing the dark-haired teen to shove himself away from his comrade cradling his left-wrist in pain.

Naruto is quickly and completely surrounded by a orange-red chakra and the gaping wound to his shoulder almost immediately heals without a trace, other than the puncture in his orange & blue jacket as he lifts up his head and from her location; through a pair of binoculars, she could see that his blue-eyes had turned red and he had tears streaming down his cheeks from said eyes.

"What the hell…?", she mutters.

"Sasuke! Orochimaru can't have you!", she heard her sibling shout, as he takes on a guarded animalistic posture, "I'm gonna bring you home safe if I have to break every bone in your body!"

She notices that Sasuke's mouth moved as if asking a question, but couldn't read his lips and her brother seemed to answer him in length before the blonde teen charges at the black-headed male.

Sasuke attempts to block a swinging-blow from Naruto with his forearm, but the smaller-teen lets out a animalistic-roar as he applies more force in his strike that causes the other male flying backwards, then he leaps into the air to pounce onto the unbalanced Uchiha.

Upon spotting the airborne attack, he lets loose a large fire-ball at the orange-clad ninja, but is strangely countered as Naruto simply bellows and his chakra flares up extinguishing the flames and forces him beneath the water's surface.

A few moments and streams of disruption underneath the water later, Sasuke is flung out and crashes against the canyon-wall; right below where she stood, only to be slammed further into it by Naruto's arm to his throat.

"You have to wake up!", she heard her bother snarl, "If you don't, I will crush you and when you're mangled enough to stop, I'll drag you home"

'_This isn't like my brother at all…_', she worriedly thinks, '_What happened to him?_'

Suddenly Sasuke beings to chuckle rather darkly before he spoke, "You crack me up… You've got no parents, no brothers…! What can you possibly know about me?", he scoffs, before continuing, "You were alone to begin with! What can you know about me? Huh?"

The statement catching the blonde-teen off-guard giving Sasuke the opportunity to kick Naruto off of himself, "This pain is born from my family bonds! How could you ever know what it means to lose anything?"

"It's true, I don't know a thing about having brothers, or real parents and I've only just got to know my sister…", Naruto responds, with downcast eyes, "But… Whenever I'm with Iruka-sensei, I kind of get the picture. I think… no, I imagine, he's kind of like a father…"

"And whenever I'm with you…", he continues, "I imagine… maybe that's what it's like to have a brother"

"Why?", Sasuke questions, "Why do you waste so much effort on… me?"

"Because for me, you were part of my family", he says, slightly smiling, "So, that's way I have to stop you!"

Natsuki watches as Sasuke rummages round in his pocket and pulls out his headband before tying it over his forehead, "Bring it on, Naruto", he challenges, "It that's what you think, then all I have to do is sever that bond!"

'_What?_', Natsuki mentally gasps, as she continues to peek over the cliffs-edge.

"Sever the bond?", Naruto repeats, "So tell me, then what's with the headband?"

"I'll say it, you're strong", the dark-haired teen states, "You know why? It's because you're like me. You felt the same pain of being alone and pain is what makes people strong", he retorts, "If I cut our bond, I will become stronger… Much stronger"

Sasuke jabs indicating to the metal of his headband, "I'll fight you as my equal now, but… see up here? Not a scratch. There's no way you're changing that. Not now. Not ever!"

"Nothing I say's gonna sway you, is it…? Sasuke…"

"Yeah, we're done chatting. All we have left is to fight", he replies, "So I said bring it on"

Naruto rushes forward towards the rebellious-teen swinging a fist, only for Sasuke to effortlessly dodge the strike by stepping to the side and lets the blonde skid-past, before spinning around to watch him as he quickly changes direction to charge him again with his fist raised and widely missing, but the force of the air-pressure from the punch slicing his right-cheek.

Natsuki observes her brother once again run towards his friend, only for a moment later it seem like Naruto stupidly ran into his fist, sending him skipping over the rocky cliff-side; like a stone skipping across the surface of the water, into the water.

Sasuke turns to walk up to the top of the cliff, only for an eruption of water to interrupt his departure, he quickly glances over his shoulder and plants his palms onto the rocks, swinging his left leg backwards and connects with Naruto's chin, and sends him flying back into the water.

She could only gasp in horror as the raven-headed teen began mercilessly beat on her brother, until Naruto was on his back in the water; his head beneath the surface, with his left-ankle in Sasuke's right-hand.

Suddenly, Naruto's violently wrenches his leg from the grip and he creepily rises to his feet as a orange-red chakra bubbled all-over his body until it combined and took on a shape that resembled that of a fox as he stood on his hands and feet; like an animal, with elongated-canines extending over his bottom-lip.

'_The Kyuubi…?_', Natsuki worriedly thinks, as she watches as her brother charges towards Sasuke again while running on all-fours with a roar.

He darts behind the dark-haired male and swipes at his head with the claws on his hand, only to have Sasuke feint to the side and narrowly dodges the strike, but the chakra around Naruto's arm branches off into a clawed-hand made of nothing; other-than pure-chakra, and slashes at Sasuke and hits him, sending him sprawling backwards.

Sasuke skips across the water's surface like a stone until he twists himself into a crouch and stares in disbelief at his team-mate as he stayed prone while still on all-fours, he rubs his left-cheek with the back of his hand to force feeling back into it before forming the hand-seals: **Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger** and lets loose a giant fire-ball towards Naruto, completely engulfing him.

"Naruto…!", Natsuki finds herself quietly scream out, only to sigh in relief upon seeing that the Kyuubi's chakra had shielded him from the flames by forming an bubble around him.

Naruto lifts his left-arm up into the air as if he was going to swipe at someone, only to slash the air and a clawed-arm made of chakra extends at the older-teen, shoving him back against the cliff-face before the demon-powered male leaps into the air to slam him into the ground.

As the dust begun to clear, Natsuki could see Sasuke gasping for breath with the same black-marks that had covered his skin during his fight with Sara on his flesh, while her brother was still surrounded by the Kyuubi's chakra. And when the dust fully cleared, she saw that one of the chakra-created hand & arm was holding Sasuke like a figurine-toy before he is yanked towards Naruto and straight into his fist which sends him flying backwards.

Upon nearly crashing into the cliff-face again, Sasuke lands seated-upright looking like a discarded doll and with him still facing-downward he begins chuckling to himself, "Guess this is it…", he says towards Naruto, as he slowly raises to his feet, "You leave ne no choice, Naruto!", he scoffs, while the Curse-marks expanded & combined, turning his flesh to a grayish-color with a black cross-shaped star-marking forming on the bridge of his nose and a violet-colored lipstick-marking on his lips, the whites of his eyes becoming black; making the red of his Sharingan more prominent, as his hair lengthened and changed from raven-black to a faded dark-blue.

"Turns out you were pretty special. But in the end…", Sasuke continued to taunt, as the transformation completed itself, "I'm still more special than you!"

'_Sasuke…_', Natsuki fearfully thinks, feeling her own body beginning to tremble.

"Is that all that makes you special?", she heard her brother question his comrade.

"I won't lose", he laughs.

Naruto reacts to the comment by charging towards the teen and slashes at him with a chakra-clad clawed-hand, both of them skipping off of the rocks of the cliff-face several-times before stopping in an explosion inside the left-ankle of one of the giant statues. When the smoke started to clear, both Naruto and Natsuki could see that the attack had been shielded-against by a large webbed-fingered clawed-hand shaped-wing blocking Sasuke's body from view.

The giant-hand swings out and smacks Naruto clear-across to the feet of the other-statue on the opposite-side of the canyon, causing the blonde-ninja to smash into the ankle of the statue; shattering the stone and creating a crater, as Sasuke shifts his position into a crouch.

Sasuke bites back a scream of pain as a bulge develops on his right-shoulder and grows larger before it shreds its way through his shirt, revealing an identical hand-wing and forcing him to brace himself with his hands on the ground in front of himself to maintain his balance.

"Sasuke… you…", Naruto whispers under his breath, as he watches as his friend winces from an unseen pain that obviously irritated the young Uchiha, only to noticed a moment later that he couldn't feel any sensation in his left-hand.

"Your power, looks like it carries some risk with it", Sasuke sneers, "Do you know? We're at the border they call 'The Valley of the End'…", he states, looking up to survey the surroundings, "A perfect setting, wouldn't you say? Naruto…?"

The remark earns him a semi-shocked glare from his blonde-haired comrade.

"Oh yeah, I said we were done chatting, didn't I?", he chuckles, recalling his own statement, "Well, it's about time we wrap up this little duel", he adds, as he raises to his feet.

Natsuki watches in horror as her brother and her friend's sibling glare across the river at each-other as they channeled their chakra into their hands; Naruto in his right and Sasuke in his left respectively, Naruto's forming a ball the size of his palm which was blue in color with flares of red-orange surrounding it, while Sasuke looked like he was clutching an orb made of blue-lightening that changed into hazy white & black electricity.

Suddenly the two males leap from their places at the feet of the statues, converging in the middle of the canyon as their attacks make contact with the other, causing an whiplash of energy that swirled around the teens as it slowly expands; creating a disruption in the cascading-waters of the falls and destroys the rocks on either-sides.

The lone female-teen; and only witness to this battle, had to brace herself as the force of the impact nearly knocked her off her feet as she saw the raging-energy formed an orb around the two combatants that darkened until she could no longer see them, before the center of the sphere exploded outward with pure-white light that caused her to lift her arms up to shield her eyes against the brightness.

When the blinding-light finally faded, Natsuki immediately rushes to the edge of the cliff and peers down the steep-incline.

"No…", she gasps in shocked-horror at the sight of Naruto laying on the ground with Sasuke standing over him.

She could only tremble in fear as she watches as Sasuke continued to stare down at her brother, the knot of his headband unknotting itself and falls to the ground next to Naruto's head, and in the silence of the area she could clearly hear Sasuke say, "Naruto…" as he still peered down at his team-mate.

The rain started to fall from the clouds above a moment later, catching the raven-haired teen's attention causing him to look up at the sky as it begun to descend faster, only for her to see him flinch in tremendous pain and hastily grab his left-shoulder; minutes after he turned his eyes upward, before collapsing to his knees and she could see him hack-up blood onto the ground.

He stayed motionless for several-minutes with his forehead parallel to Naruto's, blankly staring at his face at which time Natsuki decides to make her way down the slippery-slope.

Upon reaching the bottom she runs towards the males, slowing to a walk when reaching a few feet away before she sees Sasuke getting back to his feet and starts to stumble in the direction she had come from, shuffling past her like he didn't even notice her presence leaving her slightly stunned.

"Wait…", she mutters at him, but hears him still shuffling away from her, "Sasuke-kun, I said wait!", she angrily shouts, spinning around to glare at him, and sees that this time he did stop.

He slowly turns his head to glance at her with a degree of disinterest from over his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?", she questions, only to receive a passive-stare from him, "It better not be to Orochimaru...", she warns.

At that verbal-threat does the expression in his eyes change to anger, that would paralyze the weak-willed in fear; and weak-willed was something Natsuki wasn't, as she continued to glare him down.

Suddenly she feels her hair fall out of its ponytail and watches as the red-ribbon that held her hair up fluttered to the ground in front of her; still knotted in a bow, but she could see a clean-slice through it that caused the release of her hair.

"My ribbon… but…when…?", she whispers, '_Did he slice through it with chakra alone…?_', she mentally asks, returning her gaze on Sasuke to see that he had turned his head away from her again and had resumed walking, '_What do I do? I can easily take down Sasuke in his present-state, but my brother needs urgent medical-attention... What to do? What to do?_', she ponders; internally torn, continuing to watch him leave, "I'm so sorry, Sara…", she quietly sobs in apology, as she turns to rush to Naruto's side and applies Medical-Ninjutsu to the most fatal-looking of his injuries, '_You may be like a sister to me, but Naruto is still my only blood-relative..._', she mentally apologizes, '_Please forgive me…!_', she cries in her head, as tears begun to run down her cheeks, but the still falling rain was hiding that fact.

**DemonGirl-Setsuna:** Well? What did you think? Please review!

Well, the battle has ended…

And Sasuke has slipped through the Uzumaki-twins' fingers…

What is going to happen now that Sasuke is gone?

Join me in Chapter 19 to find out!

Catch you readers next time!


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